Биография: Маклин Эй Джей

January 9, 1978 (West Palm Beach, Florida, USA)

 

Background:

"I look good. I feel good and not to sound conceited I sound great." AJ Mclean.

AJ Mclean, nicknamed Bone, Mr. Cool, Bone Daddy or Alex, was tossed towards the stardom as a member of the wildly popular boyband Backstreet Boys (a.k.a. BSB). He was best noticed for his eccentric appearance, lots of sunglasses, rings, hats and various tattoos and haircuts.

Along with BSB’s members Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough, AJ netted the platinum-certified albums Backstreet Boys (1996), Millennium (1999) and Black & Blue (2000). They also spawned such hit singles as "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)" (1997), "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (1997-1998), "All I Have to Give" (1998-1999), "I Want It That Way" (1999) and "Shape of My Heart" (2000). More recent, after nearly five years of hiatus, AJ and his band BSB released their fifth album, Never Gone, which spawned the debut single, "Incomplete."

On a more personal note, 5' 9'' tall AJ Mclean became engaged with actress Sarah Jo Martin (born on 5 September 1975) in 2001 but broke up in the next year. From 1998 to 2000 AJ dated actress Amanda Marie Latona.


Freaky, Funky, Romantic AJ

Childhood and Family:

Alexander James McLean, would later be famous as AJ Mclean, was born on January 9, 1978 in West Palm Beach, Florida. His parents Bob and Denise (Backstreet Boys' tour publicist) divorced when he was a child, making him an angry and defensive personality. AJ has an outgoing character and likes to be in the center of interest from his early childhood. Recently, father Bob reportedly united with McLean after long estrangement.

AJ, who described himself as a freaky, funky and romantic and won a silver medal on the Nick sports show “Guts” in 1992, revealed his clandestine clinic for alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety in 2001. At home, he is a pet lover and has owns three dogs, Tank, Daisy and Serenity and a puppy that is now living with his mother, Tobi Wan Kanobi. A huge fan of Frank Sinatra, AJ plans to return to college and earned a degree.


Music Is Love

Career:

"You can fall down the stairs, you can fall off a tree, but the best way to fall is in love with me!!" AJ Mclean.

A former child model, AJ Mclean stepped on stage, playing the role of dwarf Dopey in a production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” At age 8, he won his big screen debut role as Little Mike in Tim Ritter’s horror Truth or Dare? - A Critical Madness (1986, starring John Brace and Mary Fanaro). Having accomplished handful of plays by twelve years old, AJ began learning dancing and ballet. Meanwhile, he continued acting and later packed for Orlando in 1990 for further acting career. In the new destination he joined an acting school, performed in minor plays and sometimes worked as a model. He also portrayed Sidney "Skunk" Duff (1991-1992) in the brief-lived sitcom "Hi Honey, I'm Home."

AJ joined a Latin Carnival talent competition in 1992 and met future BSB co-member, Howie. The two competed in another talent search contest and met another future BSB member, Nick. BSB final members Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell joined the band in early 1993 and under Lou Pearlman management, Backstreet Boys was ready to launch their premiere concert on May 8 that same year.

Zomba/Jive spotted BSB in February 1994 and four months later, the band recorded their debut single "We've Got It Goin' On." Despite the average success of the song in the US singles charts, "We've Got It Goin' On” gave them the first Gold disc in Germany. AJ and his group eventually released their self-titled debut album in UK in September 1996, which spawned the No. 14 single "Get Down (You're the One For Me)" (1996) and the No. 4 song "Anywhere For You" (1997).

With 8.5 million discs sold internationally, Backstreet Boys had their eyes set on American success and released their first American album on August 30, 1997. The self-titled album produced the singles "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)" (topped the US and the UK charts at No. 2), "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (No. 4 US and No. 3 UK), "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (No. 35 US and No. 42 UK) and "All I Have to Give" (No. 5 US and No. 2 UK). The album itself poled the US albums charts at No. 4 and eventually nabbed 14 times platinum. By the end of 1997, AJ and his BSB pals boarded on a 60-city, 20-country tour.

Also on August 30, 1997, Backstreet Boys released their second UK (non-US) album, Backstreet's Back. It spawned the No. 3 UK charts single "As Long As You Love Me" and reproduced several songs from the previous album. Backstreet's Back reached the UK albums charts at No. 2.

On June 5, 1999, AJ and his band released their sophomore worldwide album, Millennium (UK release May 1999). It spawned the 1999 singles "I Want It That Way" (No. 6 US, No. 1 UK) and "Larger Than Life" (No. 25 US, No. 5 UK). Another singles followed, the 2000's "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" (No. 6 US, No. 3 UK) and "The One" (No. 30 US, No. 8 UK). Millennium stayed on top of the US Billboard 200 albums charts for 10 weeks and hit the UK albums chart at No. 2. It eventually received 13 times platinum.

Black & Blue, Backstreet Boys third American album, hit the music stores on December 9, 2000. It produced the 2000 single "Shape of My Heart" (No. 9 US, No. 4 UK), and the 2001 songs "The Call" (No. 56 US, No. 8 UK) and "More Than That" (No. 27 US, No. 12 UK). Black & Blue sold 1.6 million copies in its first week and peaked the US Billboard 200 albums charts at No. 1 for two weeks (only charted at No. 13 in UK). It sold about 5.4 million copies in the US and finally nabbed 8 times platinum certification.

AJ and his band release a greatest hits album, The Hits: Chapter One on November 17, 2001, which spotted the US Billboard 200 albums charts at No. 4 and scored a platinum. They released their last single, the No. 28 US and the No. 4 UK "Drowning." During that time, AJ appeared as a guest playing DJ Naughty in Ken Hastings’ romantic comedy Olive Juice (2001, starring Leighanne Littrell and James Berlau).

"This is music for the masses. This is something that can bring people together. They can all sit with their family and enjoy a good quality record. This is not a record that parents feel they have to be cautious or wary of their kids listening to or that it might be a bad influence on people. We always try to strive on doing positive music and if you listen to what's on the radio nowadays it's pretty much about how much money you got or how many cars you got or how much jewelry you got or even how many times you've been shot." AJ Mclean (on Backstreet Boys new album Never Gone).

After taking a well-deserved break for nearly five years, AJ and Backstreet Boys came back to the music scene on March 28, 2005 with their brand new single, “Incomplete.” The song spotted the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart at No. 13 and reached No. 8 at the UK charts. On June 14, 2005, AJ and BSB marked their return to the pop landscape with the release of their fifth studio release, Never Gone. The album stayed the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at No. 3 for 7 weeks (No. 11, 2 weeks UK charts) and netted platinum so far. They also launched the next song, "Just Want You To Know."

"Music is love, love is music, music is life, and I love my life. Thank you and good night." AJ Mclean.


Awards: