McLean (born Anthony McLean, 24 June 1980) is an English singer from

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

, east London. He was signed to Asylum Records and then

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. His debut single "Broken" was released on 26 October 2009. The song was produced by The Schizofreniks and first released independently on 26 March 2007 on Schizofreniks Records, and has since then accrued over 20 million hits across major

social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...

sites, including YouTube and MySpace.

Early life and career

McLean was born in 1980 in East London and grew up in Dagenham, Essex. He is the son of the

lovers rock Lovers' rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid-1970s.Larkin, Col ...

musician, John McLean. He is the brother of the footballer

Aaron McLean Aaron McLean (born 25 May 1983) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At international level he gained five caps for the England C team during his time in the non-league. McLean began his senior career with Leyt ...

. Under the pseudonym of "Digga", he collaborated with MJ Cole on "Gotta Have It"; then with

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

duo Chase & Status on the song "Take U There", which featured on the debut album, ''

More Than Alot ''More than Alot'' is the debut studio album by English electronic music duo Chase & Status. The album was released on 13 October 2008, and peaked at number 49 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was re-released on 4 June 2010 with bonus tracks a ...

''. “Broken” was the underground song that caught the eye of big record companies and Mclean was signed to Atlantic.

Debut album

McLean worked with record producers Fraser T Smith, Phil Tan, Dylan "3D" Dresdow, Nate 'Danja' Hills, plus Naughty Boy (of Wiley and Chipmunk fame). Confirmed songs included " My Name", "Great Escape", "Try Me", "Finally in Love", "Broken" and the Smith-produced "One More Night". However, the album was never released. In 2013, Mclean released a free album on SoundCloud called ''Digga’s House''. In 2019, there were rumours McLean was soon to release a much anticipated EP.

Personal life

He is the nephew of 1990s singer Bitty McLean and is the older brother of professional footballer

. McLean has two daughters from a past relationship and is currently residing in Essex with his partner.

Discography

Singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLean 1980 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers British hip hop singers British contemporary R&B singers English soul singers Asylum Records artists Atlantic Records artists English people of Guyanese descent