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Brian Thomas Littrell (born February 20, 1975 is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor, best known as a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is also a contemporary Christian recording artist and released a solo album, Welcome Home, in 2006. Brian has four Top 20 solo singles in the US Christian chart.
Littrell was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.
Littrell was born in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. He has an older brother, and is the cousin of fellow Backstreet Boys member Kevin Richardson.
He first started to sing in the choir of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington. Music was always important to him, and he originally planned on entering school to become a music minister. While a senior in high school, Littrell changed plans and accepted the offer to join what became the very successful vocal harmony group, the Backstreet Boys.
Littrell was born with a heart defect that brought him several times into hospital with life-threatening conditions – for two months alone when he was five years of age because of a bacterial infection. An open heart surgery in 1998 closed the hole he had in his heart, as he said on his Hour of Power interview in 2007. After that he founded the Brian Littrell's "Healthy Heart Club" for kids, a non-profit organization that assists children with heart conditions through medical, financial and practical help. In October 2009, Littrell became infected with the H1N1 virus, causing the cancellation of the Backstreet Boys This Is Us promotional tour.
Littrell made appearances with the Backstreet Boys on Arthur, Sesame Street, and Sabrina The Teenage Witch (1998). He also performed with The Backstreet Boys on Saturday Night Live, in 1998 and 1999. In 2002, Littrell voiced himself on an episode of Arthur.
In 2013, Littrell made an appearance in the comedy This Is the End, along with the rest of the Backstreet Boys.
wo months after joining the Backstreet Boys, Littrell started dating Samantha Stonebraker, a relationship that continued for four years (1993–97). Littrell even lived with Samantha's family for two years. In 1998, after their separation, she released the book What You Wanna Know: Backstreet Boys Secrets Only a Girlfriend Can Tell, about their relationship and the Backstreet Boys.
In 1997, Littrell met model and actress Leighanne Wallace at the video shoot for their single "As Long as You Love Me". He proposed on Christmas Eve night of 1999, and their engagement along with the engagement of Littrell's cousin and bandmate Kevin Richardson to Kristin Willets was announced on MTV in February 2000. Littrell and Wallace were married on September 2, 2000 at Peachtree Christian Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Both are committed evangelical Christians. Together they have one son, Baylee Thomas Wylee Littrell, born on November 26, 2002.
A faithful Christian, Littrell has stated that he believes it is the duty of Christians to be open about their faith, saying, "I think as Christians we need to join hands and mount up together and lift God up and talk about our faith publicly and talk about all of the things God has done for us in our life to touch other people." Littrell, who has been a born again Christian since age 8 has said that he attributes his success in life to God, and that his faith has always been "the utmost important thing" in his life.
In between churning out more hits and putting on concerts, Littrell, the conservative, more straitlaced Backstreet Boys member, found time in the studio for the music he longed to create. In 2006, he released his first Christian-music album, Welcome Home. It reached No. 3 on the Christian album chart, No. 1 on the U.S. Christian Inspirational chart and No. 74 on the Billboard 200 chart. Later, Littrell won two Gospel Musical Association (GMA) Dove Awards for Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year in 2006 and 2008. He also took home a GMA Dove Award for Special Event Album of the Year in 2008.
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