FROM THE NEWS NEST: Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block to tour and more.

I want it that way meets please don’t go girl in this beyond-brilliant collaboration: the Backstreet Boys (pictured) and New Kids on the Block have announced that they will be touring together next summer! No dates have been announced yet, but the two not-boy-anymore bands will be performing at this year’s American Music Awards Nov. 21. This is enough to bring us right back to junior high. N’Sync and Boys II Men: any chance of a rival tour?

In a recent interview for his book Decision Points former president George W. Bush finally addressed Kanye West‘s very critical words about him calling it the worst moment of his presidency. West phoned in to a Houston radio station to say that he understood where Bush was coming from after going through a similar situation of being called a racist.

We just get more and more excited about R.E.M.‘s upcoming studio album, especially after hearing that Collapse Into Now features guest appearances from artists like Peaches and Patti Smith. Unlike their last album, which was more politically driven, this album is a “very personal, very human record,” according to multi-instrumentalist Mike Mills.