AJ McLean
AJ McLean (Alexander James McLean) is a member of the boy band the Backstreet Boys. He was born January 9, 1978 in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was raised by his mother and his maternal grandparents, his father having deserted the family when McLean was two.
In 1990, he moved to Orlando, Florida with his mother to concentrate on his acting and singing career. After numerous auditions for various Nickelodeon and Disney projects, he landed a role in Nickelodeon's "Welcome Freshmen" and in a comedy series called "Hi Honey! I'm Home," where he played a character named Skunk. He also won a silver medal on "GUTS" in 1992.
Backstreet Boys
In 1992, McLean was recruited by producer Lou Pearlman to become a member of the Backstreet Boys. Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell were chosen as the other members of the band. The Backstreet Boys became one of the top-selling bands of their era, selling over 40 million albums in the U.S. and 90 million worldwide.
Private Life
McLean has been linked romantically with a number of women. At 16, he began dating Marissa Jackson, daughter of Donna Wright, one of the group's managers. They dated for several years before breaking up in 1998. Soon after, Jackson wrote a tell-all book called "Loving AJ" about her relationship with McLean.
At the end of 1998, McLean began dating Amanda Latona, a former member of the all-girl group "Innosense" who previously had been involved with Chris Kirkpatrick and Rich Cronin. They were together until the end of 2000. He had a brief relationship with porn star Karen Simpson before becoming involved with singer Sarah Martin in 2001.
McLean and Martin met at a Los Angeles karaoke club in 2000. In the spring of 2002, they announced that they were engaged and planned to be married in February 2003. The couple called off the engagement after Martin discovered that McLean had had sex with an Alcoholics Anonymous confidante.
In 2006, McLean made it public that he is dating 18 year old recording artist, Kaci Brown, who he started dating while she was just a minor at the age of 17.
Substance Abuse Issues
Rising to fame in his early teens, McLean became known as the "bad boy" of the group. In 2001, the other band members reportedly became distressed by AJ's self-destructive behavior. Following an intervention, McLean entered rehab for alcoholism and drug abuse. His mother, Denise McLean, later authored the book Backstreet Mom, describing AJ's life before, during, and after rehab. [1]. (KEVIN SAVED HIS LIFE)
In December 2003, McLean and his mother appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about his recovery from depression, alcoholism, and drug use. Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and Nick Carter surprised McLean by appearing on the show to talk about their experiences with his addictions and to offer their support for his rehabilitation. This was the first time all five Backstreet Boys had appeared together in public in almost two years.
The band reunited for a world tour in 2004 and released a comeback album entitled "Never Gone" on June 14, 2005.
Alter Ego
McLean created a character, who he named Johnny No Name, to use as his alter ego. He uses it as his name when is not not performing with other members of the Backstreet Boys[1]. The character has similarities to McLean; for instance, both had single mothers, and lived with their grandparents from a young age. There are also differences - Johnny has been to prison[2] whereas AJ has not.
Trivia
- He has over 35 tattoos.
- He has occasionally performed in rock/metal clubs around New York under his alter ego, Johnny No Name.
- He established a foundation called the JNN Foundation to raise funds for diabetes research and other causes.