Howard Dwaine Dorough was born in Orlando, Florida, where he met future friend and bandmate AJ McLean through a mutual vocal coach. His mother, Paula Flores, is Puerto Rican, and his father, Hoke Dwaine Dorough (1938–2008), was Irish American.\n', '

Dorough\'s love and passion for entertainment started when he was three years old, begun by jumping on his grandparents\' bed, singing "Babyface" with his little guitar. He started performing around age six or seven, thanks to his sister, singing during mass in church choir and having his first role in the musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz as a singer and actor. His mother started to enroll him in children\'s community theaters and got him in singing/voice and acting lessons by putting him in a performing arts academy where he also took dance lessons in classical ballet, tap, and jazz. During school, Dorough also performed in choir, talent shows and school productions, including a school TV show called Macho & Camacho. He also managed to land roles in movies, such as Parenthood and Cop and a Half, as well as act in a Nickelodeon TV production and star in a commercial for Walt Disney World under the stage name Tony Donetti. \n', '

After high school, Dorough auditioned for Backstreet Boys under his stage name, but they lost his contact info; however, after six months, they were able to track him down, thanks to AJ. He came to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the Backstreet Boys. He graduated from Edgewater High School in the Top 10 of his class[citation needed] and attended Valencia College with *NSYNC member, Chris.\n', '

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