AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys isn’t afraid to critique the group’s hit songs—as Marie Claire previously reported, not even McLean fully understands the lyrics to BSB’s 1999 hit “I Want It That Way”—but now he’s taking the critique up a notch. People spoke to McLean, who revealed what he thinks is the fivesome’s “worst song ever,” and how the group should “retire it for life.” (Hey, as People puts it, “After 31 years with the Backstreet Boys, AJ McLean understandably doesn’t love every song the band has recorded.” Fair.)
The song in question? “If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself a Bad Boy),” which is from the band’s 1996 debut album. (Don’t worry, we’ll link you so you can listen yourself.) “Everybody loves that song, but why?” McLean said. “It’s the worst song ever. We were joking in the booth [about] sounding like a bag of cats being hit against the wall, and it made the final record.” Driving the nail in the coffin, he further called it “literally one of the dumbest songs.”
Even so, the Backstreet Boys performed it in Cancun, Mexico last month, where they celebrated 30 years since the group’s formation. “Now we can retire it for life,” McLean said. “Bury it, burn it, shoot it, whatever!”
McLean also divulged that he expected some of the band’s songs to be bigger hits than they were, like “Siberia,” “Don’t Wanna Lose You Now,” “Don’t Want You Back," and “Get Another Boyfriend,” which he called “one of my favorites.”
McLean revealed that BSB has discussed taking some of their hit songs—as well as new music—and making it into a stage production about their long career. (Minus, presumably, the aforementioned “If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself a Bad Boy)”.) “We’ve talked about potentially doing a Broadway musical, but it’s a long process,” he said.
McLean is currently on tour with another boy band member, NSYNC’s Joey Fatone, in support of their “A Legendary Night” tour. “It’s two hours of what I call fantastic organized chaos,” McLean said. “We make fun of each other. We just go out there and whatever happens, happens. No two shows are the same. The beginning and the end, yes, but the middle we change every night to keep it fresh. It’s a different approach, but it’s been very humbling.”
If you were around in the late 1990s and early 2000s, you’ll remember that most of us were very distinctly either Team BSB or Team NSYNC—sides were certainly chosen. But now, 25 years later (that stung while writing it), it seems the lines have blurred, and we can, in fact, like both groups. Even McLean gave his input on his favorite NSYNC songs, once his group’s rival boy band—and said he wished some of their songs were Backstreet Boys’ tracks. For example? “Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)” and “This I Promise You.” He added “One that’s become one of my new favorites is ‘Space Cowboy.’ That is fun to do live. That wasn’t in the first few shows, and we added it, and now it’s become a staple in the show towards the end. I look forward to that song.”
McLean said he and Fatone will continue touring together “until nobody wants us to do it, or until both parties get pulled by their bands elsewhere.” Speaking of—could there be a possibility of a Backstreet Boys/NSYNC co-headlining tour in the future? “Never say never,” McLean said, revving our little millennial hearts into overdrive. “But there’s nothing on the horizon so far. So this [his show with Fatone] is the closest you’re going to get to that part—but it really is a fun show.”
