The History of Kevin!
- Born October 3rd 1971 in Lexington Kentucky to parents Jerald and Ann Richardson. Kevin was the youngest of three, his brothers are Jerald Jr. and Tim. Kevin spent the first 9 years of his life on a 10 acre farm then in 1981 he moved and spent the next 8 years in a modern day log cabin in the foothill of the Appalachian Mountains where his dad ran a summer camp in the Daniel Boone National Forrest. Kevin graduated from Estill County High School in 1990 where he played football, participated in drama club and sang in the chorus. (They were called the Estill Engineers!). After graduation, Kevin was torn between entering the Air Force to become a pilot or following his love of music. With encouragement from his father, Kevin moved to Orlando Florida and followed his dreams of a music career. He got a job at Walt Disney World as a Tour guide, then moved up to Characters where he played Aladin, Prince Eric, The Rocketeer, Goofy and Leonardo the Ninja Turtle. Outside of Disney life, Kevin was writing music, performing in dinner clubs, teaching dance and modeling.(This is also where he meets Kristin Willits a dancer, actress and model who will later become his wife) Anything to get "noticed". Then came the day in June 1991 that Kevin got the call from his mother, telling him that his father had taken a turn for the worse with his colon cancer.(Kevin's dad was originally diagnosed in October of 1990) Kevin dropped everything and moved back home to Kentucky where he got a job and stayed with his family. On August 26th 1991, just two months later, Kevin's dad lost his battle with cancer. This was a devastating blow to Kevin, he had lost not only his father, but a friend and mentor. He stayed in Kentucky for almost a year, then after encouragement from his mother, he went back to Florida to follow his dreams. Kevin got a job with a friend who had written a musical, he gave him a part and helped him get back on his feet again. Then in March of 1993, Kevin auditioned for a new musical group that was looking to replace 2 of its members who had left for "personal" reasons. Kevin was immediately grabbed up and settled in with the others right away.(Kevin will then bring his cousin Brian Littrell to the group one month later from his home state of Kentucky) May 8th of 1993, Backstreet Boys perform their first ever concert as a group at Sea World. Through out the next 9 months they perform everywhere they can to try and get a deal. Finally in February of 1994, they sign a deal with Zomba/Jive! October of 1995, the Boys blow up overseas with their first single "We Got It Going On". They begin touring Europe, mainly Germany. September of 1996 their first album 'Backstreet Boys' is released overseas selling millions of copies! June of 1997, the Boys have their first US hit single, "Quit Playing Games With My Heart.", it flies up the US chart to #2! August of 1997, they release their 2nd international album 'Backstreet's Back' and the their first US album 'Backstreet Boys', a combination of both overseas albums. Success is now World Wide and Backstreet is a house hold name! July of 1998, news of legal troubles spread and media says 'Boys have had their 15 minutes of fame'! January on 1999, the Boys sign on with The Firm and get their first Grammy nod. They also announce plans for a third album. May 18th 1999, Millennium is released world wide and sets a US first week sales record selling 1.13 million copies, shattering Garth Brooks previous record. The Boys become mega stars and prove they are more than a flash in the pan. November of 1999, Kevin is named People Magazines Sexiest Pop Star and the band signs a NEW $60 million dollar deal with Jive records. February of 2000, Kevin announces his engagement to Kristin Willits who he had been seeing for the last 8 years. June 17th 2000 they are married at Kevin's dad's old camp in Kentucky with family and close friends surrounding them! They honeymooned in Italy, where they rented a sail boat and cruised the coast, spending time on the Island of Capri. In August of 2000, the have a post wedding party in LA, sending out 100 invatations to their closests friends and family. Black&Blue the latest album is released on November 21st 2000 after a world wide 100 hour promotional tour. December 27th 2000 Kevin and Kristin launch their new charity, Just Within Reach, an earth foundation. All through 2001 Kevin and the BSB were on the road touring for the Black and Blue album. After the tour the "Boys" decided to try things apart for a while. He began this downtime putting his efforts into his charity, The 'Boys' record label (which he is now the sole owner of buying out the other guys and moved it to Kentucky with a long time friend of his) and of course writing songs. But the spotlight came calling for Kevin once again. In January of 2003, Kevin opened on Broadway playing the smooth talking lawyer named 'Billy Flynn' in the musical 'Chicago'. His performance got rave reviews and suprised even the hardest of critics. His run ended in March of 2003. Kevin has been laying low these days, spending much needed time with his wife and looking at parts in movies and on the Broadway stage. I personally and hoping to see him stretch his acting wings on the silver screen. |
