AJ McLean Reveals the Backstreet Boys Song His Daughter ‘Hates’

The Backstreet Boys have millions of fans worldwide, but member AJ McLean sometimes faces a tough crowd when it comes to his kids.

The superstar told People at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday night (March 17) that his 12-year-old daughter Elliott “hates” Backstreet Boys’ classic 1999 hit, “I Want It That Way.”

“My oldest daughter hates that song, hates it with a passion,” McLean explained. “Because she gets teased at school when she walks into school.”

He added, “When I drop her off, the boys [sing the lyrics], ‘Tell me why,’ and she’s like, ‘Stop doing that.’ And then I start doing it to embarrass her because that’s what dads do.”

However, Elliott still “secretly” likes her dad’s music, according to McLean.

Despite Elliott’s opinion, McLean and the Backstreet Boys have of excitement coming up this year. The group’s Millennium 2.0 will arrive on July 11, a 25 years after the original album first topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks. The anniversary edition — for which the group members recreated their iconic album cover — will feature remastered versions of all the songs on the original tracklist, plus a few uncovered demos and some live recordings from their 1999-2000 Into the Millennium World Tour. 

The band is also hosting a residency at Las Vegas’ The Sphere, which kicks off the same day Millennium 2.0 drops and will continue throughout July and the first week of August. Ticket information is available on the band’s website.