Backstreet's A.J. Goes Solo... Sort Of
3.14.00 18:15 EST
The Backstreet Boys' "Into The Millennium" North American tour ends Wednesday night in Toronto, but A.J. McLean won't be off the road for long.
A.J., using the pseudonym "Johnny No Name," kicks off his first solo tour in Los Angeles on March 27 with scheduled stops in Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., and New York. All shows will benefit VH1's "Save The Music" education program.
The singer's mother and manager, Denise McLean, told MTV News on Monday that her son's hour-plus set will consist of material ranging from Stone Temple Pilots and Eminem covers to Brian McKnight's "Back At One" and A.J.'s own composition "If You Knew What I Knew."
A.J.'s first solo gig came last December when he performed as "Johnny Suede" at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando, but he insists that all things Backstreet come before thoughts of a solo album.
"It's definitely not going to happen anytime before the next album, but it will probably happen sometime after the next album," McLean recently told MTV News' John Norris of a potential solo offering. "We have some ideas, collectively as a group, about doing something really different for this next album that has never really been done before, which will kind of display each of our solo abilities."
For his first solo tour, A.J. will bring along the Backstreet Boys band, and as opening acts, percussionist Mindy Abair and L.A. girl group Nobody's Angel.
Backstreet's A.J. Launches "No Name" Tour
3.30.00 18:30 EST
Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean reclaimed his alter ego, Johnny No Name, when he kicked off his solo tour on Monday in Los Angeles, to benefit VH1's Save The Music Foundation.
With a British accent and handcuffs in tow, A.J. dove into the role of English bad boy Johnny No Name and delivered a diverse set including covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Tonic, and Brian McKnight.
He also threw in a couple of Backstreet Boys tunes, which MTV News' Chris Connelly found got an even bigger response when performed by Johnny No Name.
"There's lots of screaming, lots of craziness, you know," the artist usually known as A.J. told Connelly. "Lot of craziness, all right... I actually get a lot more panties than Backstreet gets. I get all the good panties. I get more thongs.... Everyone else gets the wideback, I get the thongs."
While still in character, A.J. said that Johnny No Name wants to release a live album and is looking for a producer. The singer's alter ego added that he's even talked with Fred Durst about working together.
