United Kingdom, Jan. 22 -- AJ McLean has asked the Backstreet Boys to use his real name when he isn't working.

The 48-year-old singer - who has been open about his struggles with substance abuse - realised after entering a treatment programme in 2023 for "love and relationship addiction" that he needed to set new boundaries, which included separating himself from his pop persona, and part of doing that was to insist his loved ones call him Alex James, rather than AJ.

He told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "My sobriety was on lock, but I wanted to dig a little deeper and find out what was at the root of my addiction.

"[Being] AJ McLean from Backstreet had its perks.It also had it's downfalls.

"And so going on this littl...