McLean was born in West Palm Beach, Florida to his mother, Denise Fernandez, and father Bob McLean. His parents got divorced and his father left the family when McLean was two years old, and he was raised by his mother and her grandparents, Ursula and Adolph Fernandez. In January 1986 at 8 years old, he 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. After numerous auditions for various Nickelodeon and Disney projects, including the Nickelodeon show GUTS, he landed a role in Nickelodeon's Welcome Freshmen, and in a comedy series called Hi Honey, I'm Home! on which he played a character named "Skunk". However he was soon replaced by the producer's nephew.

McLean created a character, whom he named "Johnny No Name", to use as his alter ego. He uses it as his name when not performing with other members of the Backstreet Boys. The character has similarities to McLean; for instance, both had single mothers, and lived with their grandparents from a young age. There are also differences - Johnny has been to prison whereas McLean has not.

McLean has occasionally performed in rock/metal clubs around New York under his alter ego, Johnny No Name. He established a foundation called the JNN Foundation to raise funds for diabetes research and other causes like keeping music programs in schools. McLean also did a nine-city tour to support VH1 Save the Music as Johnny No Name.

Originally McLean's alter ego was named Johnny Suede. It shared its name with a character played by Brad Pitt and when the studio threatened to sue McLean, he changed the name to Johnny No Name.[citation needed]

In March 2008, McLean performed his first two solo shows (as himself) at the Anaheim House of Blues and The Roxy in Los Angeles. The show consisted of his solo material and a solo version of the Backstreet Boys hit, "Incomplete". The solo tour continued through Europe in May and June, in parallel to Backstreet Boys tour. While creating his solo project, McLean worked with the OneRepublic vocalist Ryan Tedder, producers Dan Muckala and Kristian Lundin, plus the former 'N Sync member, JC Chasez.On January 20, 2010, Have It All, was released in Japan.

In April 2002, In season 2 of Static Shock (A cartoon from 2000-2004) AJ made a guest appearance on the show. The title of the show is called "Duped".[citation needed] He also appeared as a contestant in the first season of the Nickelodeon game show Nickelodeon GUTS.

McLean also suffered drug and alcohol addiction which he went to rehab for, following an intervention by the Backstreet Boys headed by Kevin. During an interview with New Zealand radio station ZM, McLean described his addictions as the hardest things he has ever had to go through, stating it is something he battles with every day. He also openly discussed the topic with Oprah Winfrey on her daytime television show.

A. J. McLean · Howie Dorough · Brian Littrell · Nick CarterKevin Richardson

Backstreet Boys (1996) · Backstreet's Back (1997) · Millennium (1999) · Black & Blue (2000) · Never Gone (2005) · Unbreakable (2007) · This Is Us (2009)

Backstreet Boys (US) (1997) · Backstreet Boys "For the Fans" (2000) · The Hits: Chapter One (2001) · Playlist: The Very Best of the Backstreet Boys (2010)