Kevin Richardson

Kevin Scott Richardson is an American singer, actor, and model best known as a member of the vocal group the Backstreet Boys. Born on October 3, 1971, in Lexington, Kentucky, Richardson achieved global success as part of the group. In 2015, he was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame alongside his cousin and bandmate Brian Littrell.

Richardson grew up in Kentucky on a ten-acre farm and later at Cathedral Domain Camp, an Episcopal youth camp managed by his father. During his youth, he played football and baseball, learned piano by ear, sang in his church choir, and participated in school plays and talent shows. He also performed in a local cover band named Paradise. His father passed away from cancer in August 1991.

After graduating high school in 1989, Richardson moved to Orlando, Florida, in 1990 to work at Walt Disney World as a cast member, character performer, and backstage tour guide while performing in dinner theater. He later worked as a model, certified dance instructor, songwriter, and film extra. His modeling career included work for Versace and Vogue, as well as serving as a brand ambassador for TAG Heuer.

In March 1993, Richardson joined the Backstreet Boys and recruited his cousin Brian Littrell to complete the lineup. As the group's oldest member, he recorded five albums over thirteen years and was named People Magazine's Sexiest Pop Star in 1999. Richardson left the group in June 2006 to pursue other interests and start a family. After occasional guest performances in subsequent years, he rejoined the band permanently in April 2012.

Outside the group, Richardson engaged in various musical and business projects. He composed the soundtrack for the animated film The Spirit Bear in 2003 and co-founded The Music Workshop in Louisville, Kentucky, to teach music industry skills. In December 2011, he headlined a Christmas benefit concert titled Home for the Holidays, and he later developed a solo album project titled Cover Story.

Richardson also established an acting career. Beginning in 2003, he played lawyer Billy Flynn in Broadway, West End, and touring productions of the musical Chicago. His film roles include Love Takes Wing, Vampire Burt's Serenade, Unwound, and The Casserole Club, which earned him an Independent Vision Award for Best Actor in 2011. He also appeared in the short film If I Could Tell You and featured as a fictionalized version of himself alongside his bandmates in This Is the End. In 2001, he founded the Just Within Reach environmental foundation in honor of his father.