AJ McLean
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AJ McLean (Alexander James McLean Fernández) (born January 9, 1978 in West Palm Beach, Florida) is a member of the Backstreet Boys. He endured a rocky childhood dealing with his parent's divorce. His father left him with his mother when he was two years old. The divorce affected AJ, causing him to become troubled and frustrated.Template:Fact Pursuing his love of live performance, AJ moved to Orlando, Florida with his mother in 1992 to concentrate on his acting and singing career. He went for countless auditions at Disney and Nickelodeon, where he landed a role in Nickelodeon's "Welcome Freshmen" and a comedy series called "Hi Honey! I'm Home," where he played a character named Skunk.Template:Fact
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Rise
AJ worked as a puppeteer cheering children's parties with the help of his best friend and also first love Ashley (who's also come from a separated family her mother has left her when she was only four and her brother Will was 6). Ashley died at the age of 14 in a car-crash, shattering AJ's behaviour forever.
Eventually, he became one of the founding members (along with Nick Carter and Howie Dorough) boy band]], the Backstreet Boys. McLean, Dorough and Carter met during one of the auditions in one of the studios in Orlando. Rising to fame as the "bad boy" of the group, AJ was best known for his swoon voice and crazy antics both on and off stage.
AJ's transformation into the tattooed and flirtatious bad boy began with the instant success of the Backstreet Boys when he was in his early teens. AJ's success attracted people who were intoxicated by his fame, and he embraced his pop star caricature by taking people out and partying all night.
Backstreet Boys
When the Backstreet Boys released their third album, Black and Blue, band members became distressed by AJ's self-destructive behavior. His voice was faltering; he lost energy on stage and was not living up to his responsibilities within the group.
In the late 90's, a death in his family shook AJ deeply, and a period of heavy drug and alcohol use strained his relationships with his fellow Backstreet Boys. With support, however, he made the decision to quit.
Criticism
Entering rehab in 2001, AJ was treated for alcoholism and drug abuse. His mother, Denise McLean, authored the book Backstreet Mom, describing AJ's life before, during and after rehab. [1]. Now back and sober, AJ along with his band mates Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Howie Dorough, are off on another world tour for their new album "Never Gone".
Private life
McLean's flirtatious habit had landed him dated many girls. At 16, he dated Marissa Jackson, daughter of one of the group's former manager, Donna Wright. Both of them had so much in common as both of them came from a broken family and they dated for several years before they called it quits on the eve of Valentine's Day in 1998 because of his hectic touring schedule. Soon, she wrote a tell-all book called "Loving AJ" on their long passionate romance.
At the end of 1998, he dated Amanda Latona, an ex-member of the all-girl group "Innosense". Amanda's past lovers include Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC and Rich Cronin from LFO. They were together for 2 and half years before splitting up at the end of 2000. During this time, AJ had a brief love affair with porn star Karen Simpson before setting his sights on an up-and-coming singer Sarah Martin.
He met Sarah at a Los Angeles club in late 2001 where she used to work as a night club singer. Their relationship soon turned serious and she stood by AJ while he was recovering from his alcohol and drug addiction in rehab. At the end of 2001, they announced they were engaged and scheduled to be married in early 2003. Several weeks before the wedding, the couple called off their engagement after Sarah found out that AJ cheated on her by having an affair with his Alcoholics Anonymous' (AA) confidante. During this time, AJ had relapsed with drugs and soon realized that he was not ready to get married at that time.
In December 2004 AJ and his mom Denise appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about his personal demons and what he went through when he spent his days getting high and drunk. He admitted that he screwed up his past relationships by continuing his destructive path and overdosed twice because he believed that someone gave him cocaine that was laced with speed.
In a surprise twist Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and Nick Carter all surprised AJ and Denise by appearing on the show along with him to tell of their experiences with his addictions but also to tell of how proud they were that AJ was trying to become and stay sober.
Kevin revealed that he hated what AJ had become because of the alcohol, the drugs and the partying. Most notably Kevin stated that AJ wasn't himself when he was on cocaine and alcohol and that he wasn't ready to get the help that he needed.
Howie Dorough stated that he had known AJ the longest and mentioned that people who are older than AJ don't realize that they need help until it's too late and that it was smart of him to get help while he was still young. Nick Carter noted that AJ's appearance on the Oprah Show would help a lot of people.
Present
He has occasionally performed in rock/metal clubs around New York under his alter ego, Johnny No Name.
AJ is now over three years sober and plans to be the third member of the Backstreet Boys to marry.Template:Fact
AJ broke up with Sarah Martin after their engagement. AJ feels he's not at the point to get married yet.Template:Fact