Kevin Scott Richardson (born October 3, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, actor and model, best known as a member of the Backstreet Boys. Richardson was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame along with his cousin and bandmate Brian Littrell on April 10, 2015.

Kevin Scott Richardson was born on October 3, 1971 in Lexington, Kentucky, the son of Ann C. (née Littrell), homemaker, and Jerald Wayne Richardson, Sr., an outdoorsman and handyman.

Growing up, Kevin lived on a 10-acre farm with his parents and two older brothers (Jerald Wayne Jr. and Tim), one of whom is a model, for 9 years and later lived in a log cabin at Cathedral Domain Camp, a church-owned youth camp which his father ran, where he worked as a camp counselor, met his best friend Keith and was a regular at the camp talent shows until he was 18. He spent his childhood in the outdoors, and could already ride a horse at age 4. When he was a kid in school, he enjoyed horseback riding, dirt bikes and was drawn to sports, such as playing little league football, which led him to play football in high school and being captain of his team called the Estill Engineers. He also got the nickname Train because he ran through guys like a train on the team. Along with the other Backstreet Boys, Richardson took a DNA test which revealed that he is 44.1% English, 36.2% North and West European, and 19.7% Irish, Scottish and Welsh.

At a young age, Richardson loved music and started learning how to play the piano by ear when he was 9 years old. He sang in his church’s choir since he was a child and was a part of his community and high school theater. He got his first keyboard when he was a high school freshman and it was just a short time before he was entertaining in restaurants and at weddings in a band called Paradise, which did covers of Bobby Brown and Journey. He also adored performing, participating in the school theater, was a member of the school’s drama club, and sang in chorus. Of his two loves, acting and music, the latter ultimately won out. He was also a member of the chess club and participated in various school plays such as Bye Bye Birdie and Barefoot in the Park at Estill County High School in Kentucky, where he was voted “Most Popular”, “Best Dressed”, “Best Dancer”, “Best Look” and “Best Looking”. He also was in a lot talent shows, one where he sang a duet with a female classmate and played in a band where he was on the drums. His father Jerald Wayne Richardson died on August 26, 1991 after a 2-year battle with cancer, when Kevin was 19.