AJ McLean Says Backstreet Boys' Record Label Wanted Them to Change This 'I Want It That Way' Lyric, but It Didn't 'Hit Right'

Mar. 15, 2025

AJ McLean, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough and Brian Littrell as Backstreet Boys in 1999.Photo:Scott Harrison/Hulton Archive/Getty

Scott Harrison/Hulton Archive/Getty

TheBackstreet Boysknew they had a lot riding on their second album, so they paid attention to every detail.AJ McLeanappears inLarger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands,in which he looks back on preparing for the release of the group’s album,Millennium.“In our generation, you put out your first album. It does good, cool. But your second album is the one that’s going to make or break your career,” McLean, 46, explains in the documentary.“Ours wasMillennium,but it wasn’t really until we then released, from that album, the single, ‘I Want It That Way,’ that everything changed.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, A.J. McLean, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys in 1999.Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via GettyMcLean laughs reminiscing on how label executives were worried that the hit’s lyrics didn’t make sense.“ ‘I never want to hear you say I want it that way,’ Exactly, you’re like what?” McLean jokes.“They felt like this song didn’t make any sense, it wasn’t going to go anywhere,” he explains, saying they even went as far as to pitch a change. Instead, they wanted the line to be “I love it when I hear you say I want it that way.”The group considered it, but ultimately opted to go with the original.“It just like, it doesn’t hit right,” McLean explains.“So they put their faith in us that we made the right call — and we made the right call.““I Want It That Way” went on to become the boy band’s fourth Top 10 single. The track has gone three times platinum since its April 1999 release.Find out more about the Backstreet Boys' rise to fame and continued success, alongside the stories of other boy bands, inLarger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands, now streaming on Paramount+.

TheBackstreet Boysknew they had a lot riding on their second album, so they paid attention to every detail.

AJ McLeanappears inLarger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands,in which he looks back on preparing for the release of the group’s album,Millennium.

“In our generation, you put out your first album. It does good, cool. But your second album is the one that’s going to make or break your career,” McLean, 46, explains in the documentary.

“Ours wasMillennium,but it wasn’t really until we then released, from that album, the single, ‘I Want It That Way,’ that everything changed.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, A.J. McLean, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys in 1999.Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

McLean laughs reminiscing on how label executives were worried that the hit’s lyrics didn’t make sense.

“ ‘I never want to hear you say I want it that way,’ Exactly, you’re like what?” McLean jokes.

“They felt like this song didn’t make any sense, it wasn’t going to go anywhere,” he explains, saying they even went as far as to pitch a change. Instead, they wanted the line to be “I love it when I hear you say I want it that way.”

The group considered it, but ultimately opted to go with the original.“It just like, it doesn’t hit right,” McLean explains.

“So they put their faith in us that we made the right call — and we made the right call.”

“I Want It That Way” went on to become the boy band’s fourth Top 10 single. The track has gone three times platinum since its April 1999 release.

Find out more about the Backstreet Boys' rise to fame and continued success, alongside the stories of other boy bands, inLarger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands, now streaming on Paramount+.

source: people.com