Howard Dwaine Dorough (born August 22, 1973), also known as Howie D, is an American musician and member of the boy band Backstreet Boys. Dorough was born in Orlando, Florida to a Puerto Rican mother, Paula Flores, and an Irish American father, Hoke Dorough. Dorough had a passion for the entertainment business since he was three years old, when he would jump on his grandparents bed, singing "Baby Face" while strumming his tiny guitar. At the age of six, Dorough participated in an Orlando production of The Wizard of Oz to get his start in entertainment business.