If Spotify had existed in 1999, at this time of the year there would be a name that would be on all the music summaries of the application: Backstreet Boys. The Orlando group didn’t need millions of downloads on platforms or an exorbitant number of followers on Instagram to become the most famous boy band in history, a title they continue to hold 30 years after their debut and defend with apotheosic energy on stage. His latest world tour, DNA world tour, confirms this.
The secret that this formation continues to be active, even though many did not predict a great journey for them, lies in the respect that its members, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean and Nick Carter, have for each other, a factor that it allows them to do solo projects without the health of the band suffering. McLean presents his new television adventure at the head of The fashion hero, a fashion space that “promotes inner beauty, where if you are true and authentic you are beautiful inside and out”.
The development of this program has gone in parallel with the personal journey that the artist is undertaking after overcoming the addictions that he has had since his youth. “I spent 12 weeks in Arizona participating in an intensive mental health program for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. My sobriety is solid, but I wanted to get back to the point of ‘why has all this happened?’. This process also inspired me to sit down and talk to my father after 42 years”, he tells La Vanguardia. The singer reunited with his father in September to heal the wounds of the past.
Another point he works on is the limits with himself: “Understanding that AJ is a character, it’s not who I am, it doesn’t define me. Being a Backstreet Boy is my job. Alex is really who I am, AJ is my character, but I had the two of them together for a long time and let AJ take over Alex, who never got to shine. I struggle with this every day, I’m still learning.”
McLean talks openly about his mental health issues and physical struggles to show that they are also a reality for stars like him. An example is the body dysmorphia he suffered years ago: “I looked in the mirror and I didn’t like what I saw, and he was punishing me, that’s why I was starving myself. He didn’t eat or ate an apple all day. And that’s not healthy. This also affects your head”. The digital environment in which we move, dominated by social networks, is one of the demons that people like him have to battle, despite the fact that the worst part is borne by the youngest.
He is the father of two girls, aged 11 and 6, and has already held talks on the subject with them. “The little girl, Lyric, has come to talk to me and her mother about her weight and her body. This shouldn’t happen, but it does. It is a challenge to talk to your daughter and try to be as firm as you can. But I simply told her: ‘Look, you’re perfect, just the way you are. You are 6 years old, still growing and will continue to change. People who have said negative things about you have problems with themselves, they don’t like the way they are, and they need to project that onto other people. They don’t control you. They don’t dictate your emotions or the way you see yourself. You do”, he shares.
At 45, AJ McLean looks back and can’t hide what Backstreet Boys fans mean to them. “Our fans have grown up with us and many have become family, they have become an extension of who we are”, reflects on those teenagers who today go to their concerts accompanied by their children. How is it possible that training for adolescents has passed three decades and is still active? “For brotherhood. Many bands may continue, but they hate each other or can’t even be in the same room. It is not our case. This is our family. Our brotherhood is what makes me most proud because I think we are now more united than ever”, he says with a smile and the promise of many more years of Backstreet Boys.
