Kevin Scott Richardson was born on the October 3,1971(not 1972!!!) in a sleepy village near Lexington, Kentucky. Surrounded by woods, meadows and mountains, this was an idyllic place for Kevin and his two older brothers to grow up. Kevin and his family moved to a farm when he was 3 and lived there till he was 9. Kevin's early years with his family father Jerald Richardson, a construction worker who helped build Kincaid Tower; mother Ann Littrell, then a homemaker, and older brothers Jerald and Tim were spent in Harrodsburg on a 10-acre farm, complete with ponies, cows and chickens. The family grew their own vegetables and raised pork and beef.

The boys were always outdoors, in the winter playing tackle football on a frozen pond. "All three of them absolutely loved it there,'' Ann Richardson said. "I'm so glad I raised them in the country.''

As with her brother's (Harold Littrell, father of Brian) family, church was a constant, and Kevin sang in the choir. But he was a shy kid, so "he was always the one hiding in the back,'' his mother said.

In 1981, the family moved to Estill County, where Jerald Sr. managed a summer camp in the Daniel Boone National Forrest,and Kevin spent the 8 years of his life in a modern day log cabin in the foothill of the Appalachian Mountains. That's when Kevin discovered the piano in the mess hall and started playing around by ear. He started goofing around and taught himself to play. Ever since, he's rarely seen without a keyboard by his side.

Kev met his best friend when he went to the Summer Camp that Kev's family ran This best friend became on of the key security men for the Backstreet Boys Kev got a keyboard when he was freshman (he was 13)and taught himself "Jump" by Van Halen.

Then he wrote his first song with his best friend. They called it "As Time Goes By". Kev reckons the lyrics were pretty cheesy, but here they are:

If I were with you,
You were with me,
Together we could make it eventually,
Because I am the one,
The one you need,
Our lives will grow stronger,
And soon you'll see,
As time goes by,
And days have past,
You're the only girl and the others come last.

When he was a kid in school he played little league football, rode horses and dirtbikes and was a member of the school's drama club and chorus.

According to his old football coach, there were two Kevin Richardsons. "He was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on and off the football field,'' said Hoover Niece, who coached at Estill County High for 25 years and still teaches there.

Off the field Richardson was shy, congenial, gentlemanly ... "It was: 'Yes, sir,' 'No, ma'am,' '' recalled Niece.

But on the field, he was an animal. "I loved contact. I loved hitting people,'' Richardson said with a laugh from the BSB's Cincinnati tour stop. "I think it was just a release for me.''

"Now that I look back, I wish I would've played more of a mental game because sometimes I was over-aggressive and I would overrun a play. I would've been a better player if I could've controlled it a little more. But I was just out of control.'' (He' really a perfectionist, isn't he?)

Now, it seems, Jekyll and Hyde have made their peace within. On stage, his suave, in-control persona makes room for his inner-maniac. , but he still bolts around the stage, pumping and bumping and grinding with the other guys like there's no tomorrow.

"I dance real aggressive, real hard,'' he said. "There are songs that are hard dance routines where you dance hard and real physical, and there are routines where you dance smooth, where you're like a cool cat, a Fred Astaire type vibe.''

Kev's nickname in his school football team was Kittie Cat because his older brother Tim who was also in the team was known as Tom Cat. Kev was the only boy in his school to be in both the football team and the school choir. In fact he was the only boy in the choir. He would always get to choir rehearsals late from football training still wet from the showers and would apologize. But none of the girls minded because they all had crushes on him! His friend says at high school he had the ability to make any girl faint (Just Like now!)

His love for music has stayed unchanged through these years.

"My first ever, ever concert was Ike and Tina Turner, when my mom was nine months pregnant with me,'' Richardson said. "I think I felt vibrations from that and it triggered my love of music.''

For the record: "My first real concert that I attended in the flesh was Donny and Marie.''

"Kevin was always pulling his music out,'' recalled friend and former teammate Jeremy Niece (coach Niece's son). "He would always write songs and sing them to us. He made tapes, played the piano and synthesizer. We said, 'Man, that's pretty good stuff, you ought to turn that in.' ''

He also got plenty of encouragement from one of his mentors, Kathie Bettler, who then taught drama at Estill County High. (She's now at Madison Southern High in Berea.)

"She was one of the first to inspire and believe in me, who first recognized that I had acting ability,'' Kevin said.

A proud Bettler remembers Kevin's natural talent and hard work. And she remembers him bringing down the house as Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie. "There was a scene where all the girls in the audience had to faint,'' she said, "and I was afraid that would really happen and I would have to stop the play.'' (I wish I could see that!)

It's easy, Bettler said, for kids in the arts to think: " 'I'd love to do this, but I can't.' I just encouraged him to try it. I always thought that he had everything it took to make it big. And he certainly did.''

Throughout high school, he toyed with several career ambitions flying was always a dream, so he thought about joining the Air Force band, and he would occasionally talk about coaching high school football. But his performing side was tugging too hard. After graduation he was ready to head for the New York American Music and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan.

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. He enrolled himself in Air Force but never joined.

He worked in Fast Food restaurants and on Tobacco Farms then went to work as a lawnmower. He auditioned for a band and joined but left because the band was playing third rate venues and wasn't worth the hassle. Then he heard about performing opportunities in the Magic Kingdom and finally with encouragement from his father, Kevin moved to Orlando Florida and followed his dreams of a music career.

"He and his friend Jimmy Durham thought they would leave Kentucky,'' Ann Richardson said. "Being from a small town, they knew there weren't as many opportunities. They wanted to get out and see the world.''

He got a job at Walt Disney World as a Tour guide. At the beginning, job wise things didn't go very well. Hoped for offers of roles failed to appear and work as a model barely covered his living expenses and so he ended up working as a tour guide in Disney world and moved up to Characters where he played Aladdin, 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 in Disney's cafe.

"I saw her enter there and it was like somebody turned the lights on" Kevin said.

With his career on the rise, this should have been a glorious time for Kevin, but the early '90s were marked by personal tragedy. In October 1990, his father was diagnosed with colon cancer, which worsened in June 1991.

"So we called Kevin, and he decided to come back home,'' Ann Richardson said. He got a job and stayed for the family. His father died in 26 August 1991,just two months later. 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. He tried to come to terms with this incomprehensible event by talking to relatives, friends and his girlfriend of the time. Later, when his girlfriend also left him (I think her name was Beth. She was older than Kev and left him cuz she was in love with someone else) he became depressed and, completely disheartened, wanted to leave Orlando, but after encouragement from his mother, he went back to Florida to follow his dreams.

"I think (work) helped him get through it. He had to lose himself. He does miss his dad, I know that.'' ,his mom said.

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, he heard about a new musical group that was looking to replace 2 of its members who had left for "personal" reasons. (Their names were Sam and Charlie.) He sent in a photo of himself, got an audition, and got himself hired! "It was so exciting for me," he says. "It was like, everything just really worked out and I knew I'd made the right choice." Kevin was immediately grabbed up and settled in with the others right away. Then he brought Brian to the group, and it was the beginning of Backstreet Boys.

"He's the general out here,'' Brian said. "He has really taken me under his wing. Six years ago ... he had been on his own a little longer, so I looked up to him as a decision-maker. Our relationship has grown to the point where we make our own decisions man-to-man. We both respect each other very highly, and sometimes we have very, very different opinions.''

Said Kevin: "I can't think of it without him. We complement each other. When I'm uptight he loosens me up; when he's lackadaisical, I help focus him.''

The same can be said for Kevin with the rest of the group. "Now I know what I put my older brothers through,'' he said, laughing.

Since BSB skyrocketed to superstardom in the United States, the guys and their families have learned to deal with the pitfalls and perks of fame.

"I'm sure he's proud,'' said his friend Jeremy Niece. "But he'd love to be able to walk into a Wal-Mart, too, and have nobody attack him.''

One of the perks, of course, is the money (Kevin bought his mom a Mercedes for her birthday. "He made me get it,'' she said, rolling her eyes, smiling.) especially now that they'll be seeing more of it. In May, the group sued its former manager, Louis J. Pearlman, and others in his company. BSB accused Pearlman of snagging $10 million of its revenue, leaving the quintet with a grand total of $300,000.

Now, under new management, with a renewed contract with Jive Records speculated to pay up to $60 million, Richardson is resting a bit easier.

"Now that we have new management, we communicate and it's like a team,'' he said.

Superstardom is nice and all, but this Richardson says he'll never be far from his roots. "I'm always gonna have a place -- a farm -- in Kentucky. My old Kentucky home.''

Quiet and well-balanced, he is the gentleman of the group and despite being 6'1" tall his green eyes reflect a certain vulnerability. He is surrounded by a strange melancholy that only serves to make him more interesting. Because outward appearance is of great importance to Kevin and, he spends correspondingly more time in the bathroom, the other Backstreet Boys have given him the nickname Mr. Body Beautiful.

Kevin describes himself as being sincere and serious about his work. A perfect moment for this reserved Romeo is to be on stage, looking out into the audience, and see them singing alone with the lyrics. " When you see someone singing your song, it's pretty wild. It can almost make you want to cry. "

Kevin has a major part in Backstreet Boys' success. He doesn't sing so much but he is as talented as the others and he is somehow the leader of the group.

Finally on Valentine's Day 2000,Kevin and his longtime girlfriend, Kristin Willits announced their engagement, and in June 17,2000,they got married in Kevin's hometown, Lexington.Together they have two sons, Mason Frey Richardson, born July 3, 2007 and Maxwell Haze Richardson, born July 10, 2013.

Kevin holds a deep personal commitment to cleaning up and protecting the Earth. He is focusing his personal and political efforts on the launch of an environmental Foundation recently. His foundation name is" Just Within Reach", in the name of his father" Jerald Wayne Richardson" Kevin, Kristin, his wife, Tim, his brother, Jim Hanna and Vicki Hanna are directors, but Kevin needs our helps in his way. He doesn't do in only for himself, but for us and our family, friends and children. Help him to have a better earth to live on.

This is his personal message about it:

"I just wanted to send a big "Thank You" to everyone who's been so supportive of the Just Within Reach Earth Foundation I'm starting. We've received lots of questions about when the foundation and its official web site will be up and running. I want you to know that this is a very important project for me, and it's a project that can improve the world for all of us. I want to make sure that it's perfect so that together, we can accomplish as much as possible. JWR is going to be a professional, effective and efficient organization, so it's going to take a little time to get it all set up the way we want it. But it'll be soon. There will be an official web site, but I want it to be a site where you can all go to get up-to-the-minute environmental info. and learn how you can get involved personally. Until it's up, let's just start thinking about how our every day activities can affect the environment. Try working on things like turning off lights when you're not in a room, turn off the water faucet when you don't really need it to be running, and think about what you're throwing into the trash can. Can some of that garbage be recycled? The one thing we can all do right now, right away, is think about what we're doing on a day-to-day basis. It's a great start. Thank you for your emails, calls and offers to help. Believe me, as soon as everything is set and we're ready to move into action, you'll be the first to know. We're going to make great things happen! Peace, Kev"