A. J. McLean
(born Alexander James McLean
, January 9, 1978, [1] West Palm Beach, Florida, United States) is an American musician and member of the singing group, Backstreet Boys.
|
AJ MCLEAN TICKETS
|
Biography
Early life
McLean was born in West Palm Beach to his mother, Denise Fernandez, and father Bob McLean. His parents divorced and his father left the family when McLean was age two, and he was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents, Ursula and Adolph Fernandez.
In 1990, he moved to
Orlando, Florida with his mother and grandparents to concentrate on his acting and singing career. After numerous auditions for various
Nickelodeon and
Disney projects, including the Nickelodeon show
GUTS,
he landed a role in Nickelodeon's
Welcome Freshmen
, and in a comedy series called
Hi Honey, I'm Home!
on which he played a character named "Skunk". However he was soon replaced by the producer's nephew.
Substance abuse issues
Rising to fame in his early teens, McLean became known as the bad boy or rebel of the Backstreet Boys. In 2001, the other band members reportedly became distressed by McLean's self-destructive behavior. Following an intervention, McLean entered rehab for
alcoholism,
cocaine abuse, and depression in July 2001 during the Black and Blue tour, which was temporarily put on hold. After being sober for almost two years, he then had a relapse. His sobriety date is October 23, 2002. As of October 2008, McLean was six years sober. His mother, Denise McLean, authored the book
Backstreet Mom
in 2003/2004, describing McLean's life before, during, and after rehab.
[2]
In December 10, 2003, McLean and his mother appeared on the
Oprah Winfrey Show
to talk about his recovery from
clinical depression, alcoholism, and
drug use. He was one year sober.
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.
On January 27, 2009, reports of McLean losing his battle with alcoholism surfaced. He was filmed in an apparently inebriated state by TMZ and was also called out by current girlfriend
Wendy Rice in an additional video.
[3]
Alter ego
McLean created a character, whom he named "Johnny No Name", to use as his alter ego. He uses it as his name when not performing with other members of the Backstreet Boys.
[4] 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
[5] whereas McLean has not.
McLean has occasionally performed in rock/metal clubs around New York under his alter ego, Johnny No Name. He established a foundation called the to raise funds for diabetes research and other causes like keeping music programs in schools. McLean also did a nine-city tour to support VH1 Save the Music as Johnny No Name.
Originally McLean's alter ego was named
Johnny Suede. It shared its name with a character played by
Brad Pitt and when the studio threatened to sue McLean, he changed the name to Johnny No Name.
Personal life
AJ McLean's first girlfriend was Stephanie E. Hirsh, a long distance relationship that lasted two and a half years. Despite the distance, she was his first love and the inspiration for his early songs. He then dated Marisa Jackson, daughter of Backstreet Boy's former manager Donna Wright, for 6 years before they split on Valentine's Day in 1997. Between 1998 to 2000, he dated
Amanda Latona who is a former member of a girl band,
Innosense. They had a house together in Orlando, Florida. McLean was once engaged to former child actress Sarah Jo Martin in 2002. The two had dated since 2000 and were set to wed on Valentine's Day 2003 but publicly broke off their engagement in that same year. In 2005, he had an on and off relationship with pop singer, and one time Backstreet Boys opening act,
Kaci Brown. McLean sold his home in Malibu, California in December 2006. He now has homes in Los Angeles, California and in Orlando, Florida.
Solo project
In March 2008, McLean performed his first two solo shows (as himself) at the Anaheim House of Blues and The Roxy in Los Angeles. The show consisted of his solo material and a solo version of the Backstreet Boys hit, "Incomplete". The solo tour continued through Europe in May and June, in parallel to Backstreet Boys tour. While creating his solo project, McLean worked with the
OneRepublic vocalist
Ryan Tedder, producers Dan Muckala and
Kristian Lundin, plus the former
'N Sync member,
JC Chasez.
References
- Backstreet Boys * Aaron Carter
- Starbeam Coaching - Denise McLean Solis, Certified Life Coach
- http://www.tmz.com/2009/01/27/mcleans-gf-aj-said-hes-an-alcoholic/
- A.J. McLean talks about "Johnny No Name"
- JNN Foundation - Founding Story