Free 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

started our meeting. It was
at that point that one boy and his mother left the house. I couldn't really
tell from their expressions what had taken place but that was all to be
revealed soon enough.
    There was a small electronic keyboard in the room that was not there
the last time we came. I wondered if they were going to be using it today.
Lou walked into the room and called the boys over to him. He introduced
himself again and told them how happy he was to finally have his new
family there with him. As he beamed with delight, Lou told the boys
about the music he had been writing. He wanted them to hear it. After
grabbing an acoustic guitar from the other room, he sat down to play.
    I quickly understood why he had never pursued a singing career of
his own. His voice was okay, but it was also undeniably weak. He could
carry a tune, that was about it. The boys watched and listened. All of a
sudden, one of them started to sing along. Lou just smiled and kept
going. Before long all of the boys were singing along with Lou. Then
they started experimenting with harmonies. We parents looked at one
another in amazement. Something really incredible was taking place
right before our eyes. All we could do was smile as the group and Lou
continued singing.
    When they were done, they shook hands, gave high fives and jumped
around the room like they had just won a championship ball game. I
must admit that it was pretty cool to watch those six boys join in without trying to out-do or out-sing each other in any way. They just seemed
to blend naturally.
    Once the room settled down, Lou outlined his master plan for the
group. He told us he had decided on six boys instead of seven. He also
said he had come to terms with a pair of local talent agents who had
agreed to take the boys under their wing for rehearsals and singing lessons. This was the team of Jean Tanzy and Sybil Galler, who had helped
with the auditions.
    Jean smoked heavily and had chiseled features that looked older than
her years. She had long salt-and-pepper hair and a very husky voice.
Sybil was the opposite of Jean-a short, young woman with well-kept
blonde hair who was always dressed nicely. She had a perky attitude
and was usually smiling. I suppose they complemented each other.

    Alex and one of the other boys, Nick Carter, had been signed with
Jean and Sybil for acting lessons. I had never heard them speak about
any experience in the music business, but apparently jean had done
some singing professionally in the past. She told Lou that she had contacts in New York who could help with getting the new group a record
deal. That confused me a bit since Lou had always spoken of starting his
own label in Orlando.
    After the little sing-along session, Lou showed the boys some videos
of performances by the New Kids. He explained how he had met their
manager and picked his brain about how to form a boy band.
    We all got to know each other a bit that day and the tension that had
greeted us when we arrived eventually disappeared. I was able to breathe
a bit easier. Our holidays were fine, spent with the family as usual. I
think both Alex and I were eager to get them over with that year so that
we could see what was going to happen next.
    At the end of December I got a phone call from Gloria telling us that
Lou wanted to throw a birthday party for Alex on the ninth of January
at his home. That was great news! Given the fact that Alex's birthday
came around right after Christmas I was usually strapped for cash. My
son invariably got a raw deal. Typically, people purchased one gift for
him and said that it was for both Christmas and birthday.
    Journal Entry, January 9, 1993: Lou had a cake for AJ's birthday todaywhat a great guy! Alex's fifteenth birthday and last night was the first gathering of the Backstreet Boys. Jean, Sybil and Lou picked seven boys at first.
There was a decision to be made between Damon and David. After a long
time