AJ McLean Says His Oldest Daughter 'Hates' This Classic Backstreet Boys Song 'with a Passion' (Exclusive)

AJ McLean’s daughter isn’t the biggest Backstreet Boys fan.

The singer, 47, exclusively revealed to PEOPLE at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday, March 17, that his daughter Elliott, 12, “hates” the band’s 1999 hit “I Want It That Way” “with a passion” after being teased about it at school.

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

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

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McLean adds that his daughter Elliott, who changed her name from Ava in 2022, still “secretly” likes her dad's music and has her favorite Backstreet Boys tracks.

As for the band themselves, the star shares that they “love that record. We love showing the meaning,” McLean tells PEOPLE. 

The pop star shares his two children, Elliott and Lyric, 7, with his estranged wife Rochelle McLean. The pair revealed their separation after 12 years of marriage in January 2024. 

In January of this year, the Backstreet Boys announced their return to Las Vegas for a residency called “Into the Millenium” at the Sphere which will take place in July and August.

In July, the band is also set to release a reimagined version of their 1999 album Millennium called Millennium 2.0, featuring six new demos and remastered versions of the album's tracks, which they will perform over nine concerts.

“The fact that we get to redo this album again live, it's kind of reinvigorating, this excitement about what it was back in '99,” McLean tells PEOPLE.

"It's going to be awesome," he adds.

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The tracks at the concert will include “Back to Your Heart,” which McLean shares will have one member of the pop group sobbing onstage.

“I can guarantee you, Kevin [Richardson] will cry multiple times a night. I know he will, it's a guarantee,” he says.

“He's the most emo, especially [with that] song, which he wrote. Guarantee you, he bawls his eyes out, oh yeah. If I see it, then I start crying and then we can't sing. It's like, come on dude.”

Backstreet Boys' Vegas residency will take place on July 11-13, 18-20 and 25-27 and on Aug. 1-3.