Jelly Roll Brings Out Backstreet Boy (And Failed Country Singer) AJ McLean For Duet Of “I Want It That Way” In Canada

Is AJ McLean ready to give country music another try? Chances are you probably don't even know about the Backstreet Boys singer's short-lived country music career. And honestly, it's probably better that way. Back in 2018, McLean declared at the ACM Awards that he was "coming in to disrupt country music" with his next project, after he had success with his duet with Florida Georgia Line, "God, Your Mama, and Me." The result (I guess) was a song called "Back Porch Bottle Service" that was one of the worst songs of 2018 and was widely criticized for being a half-assed attempt at a pop country song and just all-around terrible. (Seriously, if you haven't heard it, don't worry about looking it up. It's so bad that it only has half a million streams on Spotify in over 5 years). It seems that McLean's dreams of "disrupting country music" were dashed not only when his song sucked, but also when country music actually started to get better and leave the FGLs of the world behind. So much for that. But apparently McLean hasn't entirely left the country world behind, even though he's now releasing pop music under his full name, Alexander James, and also co-headlining a tour with former NSYNC member Joey Fatone. Jelly Roll is currently in Canada for his first-ever headlining shows outside of the United States, and he surprised the crowd with an appearance from McLean. And the two broke out one of the Backstreet Boys' biggest hits, "I Want It That Way," for a duet. Not gonna lie, that song's still a guilty pleasure of mine. Didn't expect to hear Jelly Roll singing it, but not mad at it.