Brian Thomas Littrell (born February 20, 1975) is an American singer and a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is also a contemporary Christian music artist, and released the solo album Welcome Home in 2006. He is the father of country singer Baylee Littrell. In 2015, Littrell was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame along with his cousin and bandmate Kevin Richardson. Early life Littrell was born in Lexington, Kentucky, to Jacqueline "Jackie" R. (née Fox), a dentist's secretary, and Harold Baker Littrell, Jr, an IBM employee. He has an older brother Harold III, an actor and singer, and is the cousin of fellow Backstreet Boys member Kevin Richardson; his father, Harold, and Richardson's mother, Ann, are siblings. Littrell was skilled at sports, and played in both Little League and the Babe Ruth League. Growing up in a religious Baptist family, he sang his first solo in Porter Memorial Baptist Church at age 7, and was voted President of the Youth Chorus by his peers one year. At 16, he began performing at weddings after Barry Turner, his choir teacher at Tates Creek High School, suggested he could make money singing at social events. Littrell also performed in school plays including a production of Grease, and worked at fast food chain Long John Silver's. At 15, Littrell had aspirations to become a basketball player, but at he struggled with his height, and was seldom selected for high school tournaments. He aspired to become a music minister, but in April 1993 during a history class at Tates Creek, Littrell's cousin and future bandmate Kevin Richardson called him out of an American History class and informed him of an audition for a fifth member of the Backstreet Boys. Littrell flew to Orlando the next day and finished high school via correspondence, graduating in 1994. Career Backstreet Boys In 1997, Littrell was instrumental in bringing a lawsuit against the group's creator Lou Pearlman, claiming Pearlman had concealed information regarding the group's earnings. Bandmates AJ McLean, Richardson and Howie Dorough joined the lawsuit which eventually resulted in a number of settlements, details of which were not disclosed. In 2000, he was among Teen People's 25 Hottest People Under 25, tying with Justin Timberlake of rival band *NSYNC. Christian music Littrell longed to record Christian music, a genre he described as "pop positive". In 2004, Littrell signed a solo deal with Reunion Records