Who is Johnny Suede? He's better known as the Backstreet Boys' chain-smoking A.J. McLean. McLean unveiled his darker-tinged alter ego at a weekend performance at Orlando's Hard Rock Cafe to benefit VH1 Save the Music.
Any screaming fans hoping to hear that McLean/Suede wanted it "that way" were likely to be disappointed. He opened his short set with his rendition of Stone Temple Pilots' "Down" from their No. 4 album. He was also wearing a Kid Rock-style hat.
Things returned to normal when Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell appeared as himself. Littrell got on stage to sing Brian McKnight's "Back at One" with McLean/Suede.
Any comparisons with Garth Brooks' Chris Gaines character were dispelled when McLean/Suede went on to perform a song while handcuffed to a chair. If that's the way he wants it, it's news to us.
This pop star folly was ultimately for a good cause. At the show, McLean/Suede announced their support for the Central Florida Save the Music Campaign.
VH1 Save the Music was also presented with a $10,000 check from Time-Warner Communication. The money will go towards helping the organization provide instruments and support music education in urban schools.
Brian Littrell has his own campaign to promote. When the Kentucky Thoroughblades' next take the ice to play hockey with the Louisville Panthers on January 22, Littrell will sing the national anthem. In return for his warbling, the Thoroughblades will donate a portion of the proceeds from the match to Littrell's Healthy Heart Club.
In 1980 Littrell was hospitalized with Ventricular Septal Defect, meaning he had a hole in-between his heart's left and right ventricles. The hole was repaired in 1998, and Littrell has since set up the Healthy Heart Club to help children suffering from heart trouble cope with surgery.
