2005-2006

After a three-year hiatus, their single, Incomplete, was released to radio stations on March 28, 2005. The song mourns the loss of Kevin Richardson's father. The drastic style change drew negative criticism from magazines such as Rolling Stone, which gave the album one star.

On June 14, 2005, the Backstreet Boys released their comeback album Never Gone, which they spent more than a year recording. The album debuted at #3 on the U.S. chart with first week sales of 291,000 copies, and #1 debuts in Japan, Pakistan, Germany, India, Chile, Brazil and South Korea. In the same year, Brian Littrell's song In Christ Alone charted at #1 on the US Christian Charts. The Backstreet Boys began the first leg of their Never Gone Tour in July in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was their first Australian tour.

Never Gone was certified platinum in the US and four singles were released from the album. Their first single was Incomplete, the second single was Just Want You To Know, and the third singles were: Crawling Back To You for the US and I Still... (international). Never Gone has sold 10 Million copies worldwide.

Backstreet Boys' second single Just Want You To Know hit the top 10 in the UK, but was not as successful in the United States. It was one of the group's weakest performing U.S. singles, only peaking at #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The third international single I Still debuted at #1 on the Japan International Singles Chart with 2,182 copies sold, making the first ever international single to enter at #1 on the chart in Japanese history. The third US single, Crawling Back To You peaked at #30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.


Welcome Home, 2006.On May 2, 2006, Brian Littrell released his first solo album Welcome Home with the title track as the first single. Both album and single made the top 3 on the Billboard Christian Charts.

On June 23, 2006, Kevin Richardson departed from the group. The band stated that Richardson wished to pursue other interests outside of the group. The rest of the Backstreet Boys wished him the best of luck in the future. They have no plans on replacing him, and said he would be welcome to return should he wish to do so. Since then, Kevin played a role of young hotshot lawyer named Billy Flynn in the Broadway musical Chicago for a short engagement in Toronto, Canada in late 2006.