A. J. McLean
McLean was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, to Denise (née Fernandez) and Bob McLean. He is of Cuban and German ancestry on his mother's side and Scottish, Irish and English on his father's side. His parents divorced when he was four years old. In January 1986 at 8 years old, McLean acted in his first role as Little Mike in the 1986 film Truth or Dare.
In 1990, he moved to Orlando, Florida with his mother and grandparents to concentrate on his acting and singing career. In early 1990s he appeared on various Nickelodeon and Disney projects, including the Nickelodeon show GUTS, Welcome Freshmen, and a comedy series called Hi Honey, I'm Home! on which he played a character named "Skunk". Upon joining the Backstreet Boys, he along with band mates Brian Littrell and Nick Carter quit high school and completed their education with a tutor who joined them on the road.
In 1990, he moved to Orlando, Florida with his mother and grandparents to concentrate on his acting and singing career. In early 1990s he appeared on various Nickelodeon and Disney projects, including the Nickelodeon show GUTS, Welcome Freshmen, and a comedy series called Hi Honey, I'm Home! on which he played a character named "Skunk". Upon joining the Backstreet Boys, he along with band mates Brian Littrell and Nick Carter quit high school and completed their education with a tutor who joined them on the road.
McLean, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell formed the pop group Backstreet Boys in 1993. The group became very successful in late 90s-early 2000s, and in 2013 they celebrated their 20th anniversary and released a new album called In A World Like This.