Backstreet Mom: A Mother's Tale of Backstreet Boy AJ McLean's Rise to Fame, Struggle With Addiction, and Ultimate Triumph by Denise I. McLean Page A
Authors: Denise I. McLean
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the case
seemed to be, those two repeatedly knocked heads. It was a sibling rivalry of sorts. In the end, they either compromised or Lou was called in
to make a decision.
Even as a child, my son had a wonderful sense of color and style. As
I recall, Alex didn't even own a pair of blue jeans until he was about
twelve years old. That was pretty unheard of for his generation. He preferred the preppie look of polo shirts and cotton trousers to jeans and Tshirts. By the time he turned six, I had very little say about what he
wore every day to school. He was very opinionated about his attire.
By the time Alex turned sixteen, he had become a bit of a rebel when
it came to his clothing. He was the first of the boys to get his cars pierced.
At first, the style was for one earring, but soon after that he decided on both. That caused a problem with his grandmother and me. We felt it
was a bit too feminine. Even some of the boys were against it. But, in the
end, Alex's stubbornness won out.
It was around that time that the boys received their first payment
from the record label. The amount of money they advance is geared to
how many CDs the record company thinks it will sell.
When Lou told us that the record company had given the boys a
$25,000 signing bonus, we had no idea what that meant. It did seem
like a low amount, but Lou said that neither he nor the Wrights took
their percentage, which seemed to us, at the time at least, to be a generous gesture. That meant that each boy received $5,000.
From that point on, the new accountant that Lou hired kept track of
every penny that he spent on the boys. What he did not list as an expense, the record company did. The word "recoupable" became an integral part of our vocabularies that year. We learned very quickly just how
much Lou had spent on getting those boys where they were at that point
in their careers because once the "signing bonus" was paid, the boys
started getting bills from Lou's office.
The Backstreet Boys backstage at Sea World
I had known all along that time would come, but none of us were
prepared for what we saw. It was absolutely staggering. I had never seen
so many zeroes on one piece of paper before in my life. It was downright
shocking what we owed that man. All the dinners, limo rides, plane
trips, parties, clothes, etc. were itemized for each boy. Alex and Nick
incurred a larger bill than the other boys due to the years of tutoring
they had.
Of course, none of us were able to begin paying any of it off. As I
looked at the bill, I realized how little the boys would actually make
over the coming years. I felt like I would be in someone's debt for the
rest of my life. Once again those little demons perched themselves on
my shoulders and started picking away at my brain.
Had I clone the right thing for Alex? Sure, he seemed to be having a
great time traveling, shopping and coming into his manhood with the
other boys. There was a lot of good stuff happening here. Was it worth
the huge price tag? That question gnawed away at me unrelentingly.
THE BOYS' FIRST VIDEO SHOOT took place at a small nightclub in Orlando.
I had been handing out flyers for weeks at every appearance, trying to
get young girls to show up at the club. To direct the video, Donna had
hired Ken West, a young man she had met a few months earlier while
attending film school. When we first met, I thought he was a bit quiet
and reserved. Once he went to work, his personality changed and he
took command of the shoot. It was obvious that he knew what he was
doing.
I actually felt a bit sorry for him after a while. Donna seemed to give
him more direction than he needed. Ken took it in stride, but by the
time the shoot was done, he seemed relieved. I heard him say that he
had to get the equipment back at a certain time and was running late. It
might have been true.
Since that video was strictly for promotional purposes, we didn't have
a big budget. We searched
seemed to be, those two repeatedly knocked heads. It was a sibling rivalry of sorts. In the end, they either compromised or Lou was called in
to make a decision.
Even as a child, my son had a wonderful sense of color and style. As
I recall, Alex didn't even own a pair of blue jeans until he was about
twelve years old. That was pretty unheard of for his generation. He preferred the preppie look of polo shirts and cotton trousers to jeans and Tshirts. By the time he turned six, I had very little say about what he
wore every day to school. He was very opinionated about his attire.
By the time Alex turned sixteen, he had become a bit of a rebel when
it came to his clothing. He was the first of the boys to get his cars pierced.
At first, the style was for one earring, but soon after that he decided on both. That caused a problem with his grandmother and me. We felt it
was a bit too feminine. Even some of the boys were against it. But, in the
end, Alex's stubbornness won out.
It was around that time that the boys received their first payment
from the record label. The amount of money they advance is geared to
how many CDs the record company thinks it will sell.
When Lou told us that the record company had given the boys a
$25,000 signing bonus, we had no idea what that meant. It did seem
like a low amount, but Lou said that neither he nor the Wrights took
their percentage, which seemed to us, at the time at least, to be a generous gesture. That meant that each boy received $5,000.
From that point on, the new accountant that Lou hired kept track of
every penny that he spent on the boys. What he did not list as an expense, the record company did. The word "recoupable" became an integral part of our vocabularies that year. We learned very quickly just how
much Lou had spent on getting those boys where they were at that point
in their careers because once the "signing bonus" was paid, the boys
started getting bills from Lou's office.
The Backstreet Boys backstage at Sea World
I had known all along that time would come, but none of us were
prepared for what we saw. It was absolutely staggering. I had never seen
so many zeroes on one piece of paper before in my life. It was downright
shocking what we owed that man. All the dinners, limo rides, plane
trips, parties, clothes, etc. were itemized for each boy. Alex and Nick
incurred a larger bill than the other boys due to the years of tutoring
they had.
Of course, none of us were able to begin paying any of it off. As I
looked at the bill, I realized how little the boys would actually make
over the coming years. I felt like I would be in someone's debt for the
rest of my life. Once again those little demons perched themselves on
my shoulders and started picking away at my brain.
Had I clone the right thing for Alex? Sure, he seemed to be having a
great time traveling, shopping and coming into his manhood with the
other boys. There was a lot of good stuff happening here. Was it worth
the huge price tag? That question gnawed away at me unrelentingly.
THE BOYS' FIRST VIDEO SHOOT took place at a small nightclub in Orlando.
I had been handing out flyers for weeks at every appearance, trying to
get young girls to show up at the club. To direct the video, Donna had
hired Ken West, a young man she had met a few months earlier while
attending film school. When we first met, I thought he was a bit quiet
and reserved. Once he went to work, his personality changed and he
took command of the shoot. It was obvious that he knew what he was
doing.
I actually felt a bit sorry for him after a while. Donna seemed to give
him more direction than he needed. Ken took it in stride, but by the
time the shoot was done, he seemed relieved. I heard him say that he
had to get the equipment back at a certain time and was running late. It
might have been true.
Since that video was strictly for promotional purposes, we didn't have
a big budget. We searched
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