AJ McLean is obsessed. The target of his obsession for the past few weeks is creator Lydia Getachew’s viral remix of Taylor Swift‘s “Elizabeth Taylor” and the Backstreet Boys‘ iconic 1997 hit “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” which, not for nothing, were both produced by pop savant producer Max Martin.
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Back on Oct. 10, Getachew posted her original video in which he vibes out to her perfectly perfect melding of the Swift song over the BSB beat, writing, “My brain immediately heard the drop in ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ and I was like wait the bass is giving a drop in BSB… lo&behold, Max Martin produced both songs!
A week later, McLean posted a video in which he rocked out to the remix, commenting, “Come on now you know one of us had to! @taylorswift!” Swift immediately jumped into the comments, responding, “OH HI AJ OH MY GOD.”
To date, the remix — which Getachew posted in full on Soundcloud a short time later — has been view more than one million times on TikTok and streamed more than 665,000 times on Soundcloud. And now McLean is hoping to recreate that magic on stage at the BSB’s Into the Millennium residency, which recently announced seven more shows for December and January.
TMZ caught up with McLean on Tuesday (Nov. 11) and asked who he’d like to see take the stage at the mind-bending Sphere after he, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and Nick Carter move on from Las Vegas’ favorite new high-tech venue. AJ’s wish list of potential next residencies included some big names — Coldplay, Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers — but one stood out.
“I don’t know if she’d ever do it, but I think Taylor [Swift] would absolutely destroy it,” he predicted of a fantasy Swift Sphere stint. “She is a fan, and we’re a massive fan of hers. I mean, she’s the sweetest. She’s been so kind to my daughters anytime that we’ve had a chance to hang out and meet her at her shows. She’s just the best.”
Given how popular the mash-up is, McLean said it would “break the planet” if Swift did a pop-in to perform it live with his crew. “Fans are hoping she’ll do ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ while we do ‘Backstreet’s Back,’” he said. “Taylor, if you want, come see the show first, so you know what’s going on. And then you can figure out if you want to come up with up with us,” he said. “We’re not going to say no.”
