One of the most popular boy bands of all time, Backstreet Boys returns with a new album titled “In a World Like This,” a new tour and a surprise big-screen appearance in “This Is the End.”
It’s all part of the 20th anniversary of the best-selling vocal group, known for hits such as “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart),” “I Want It That Way,” “Shape of My Heart,” “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” and, of course, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).”
“Sometimes it seems like it went by so fast, then other times it doesn’t,” says Kevin Richardson, who left the group but has rejoined A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter and Brian Littrell. “We were just so blessed. And to still be doing this — not a lot of bands and groups get to do this for this long at a high level. It’s amazing the fan base we have.”
After Backstreet Boys’ 2005-2006 “Never Gone” tour, Richardson felt he had to leave the fans behind. His bandmates wanted to immediately return to the studio and work on the next record after the extensive tour, but Richardson had other ideas.
“I felt we should step away for a minute, recharge our batteries, get inspired,” he says. “We also had issues to work out with the label.”
After a show in Hawaii, Richardson announced he was leaving. He says the toughest part was knowing the group wouldn’t miss a beat without him. They began recording an album right away.
“I was like, ‘Wow,’” he says. “But at the same time I was fine with what they were doing. They had my blessing. My heart wasn’t in it.”
Post-Richardson, Backstreet Boys released the albums “Unbreakable” (2007) and “This is Us” (2009). He says he doesn’t know much about “Unbreakable,” but the song “Undone” from “This is Us” stands out. The song was co-written by One Republic’s Ryan Tedder. “That was the best song on the record, hands-down,” Richardson says. “That should have been the single, but the label didn’t release it, which was par for the course.”
Backstreet Boys embarked on an ambitious tour with New Kids on the Block in 2011, a tour Richardson didn’t feel would work. “They’d both just come off the road. You gotta make the fans miss you a little bit,” he says.
The idea of teaming with another boy group goes back years, long before Richardson’s departure. “We had talked about Boyz II Men and how good that would be. We’d thought about New Kids, New Edition, Color Me Badd. We’d put this whole lineup together years ago.” (New Kids on the Block toured with Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees this summer).
While Backstreet Boys carried on without him, Richardson says he jumped into his own world. He and his wife had a son, he starred as Billy Flynn in “Chicago” in Toronto and Tokyo (reprising his 2003 Broadway role), and he took film class.
“I became an average Joe for a while,” he says. “I needed that.”
Backstreet Boys, which always has been a major label act, is independent for the first time with “In a World Like This,” released on K-BAHN. This is also the first time the group has had creative control, which was the impetus for Richardson’s return last year.
“That inspired me; it sounded like fun having creative control, doing it ourselves, calling the shots for better or worse,” he says. “We made this record on our own with no one telling us who to work with or when to work.”
The group got to work with Swedish producer-writer Martin Terefe, who is behind a handful of songs on the album. Terefe has worked with Jason Mraz, Train, James Morrison and KT Tunstall.
“We teamed up with him in London for three weeks to write and record at the beginning of the album process,” Richardson says. “We really liked his energy and vibe and loved the music he produced for other artists. He was the first person we agreed to work with.”
Last week, the group made a new Terefe song available for streaming: “Trust Me,” an acoustic ditty that’s unlike typical Backstreet Boys fare. The rest of the album features other stripped-down, acoustic sounds along with modern rock and pop songs. Max Martin, who produced many of the group’s hits, produced and co-wrote the title track.
“We just wanted to make a versatile record that came from us — a perspective of where we are in our lives,” Richardson says.
He believes this is an album Backstreet Boys couldn’t have done until now.
“I think things happen the way they’re supposed to happen,” he says. “We finally have that creative control we’ve earned and deserved, though we would have liked it earlier. We’re proud of this record, and it came from the heart, for better or worse, it’s all us. We have to own that.”
What “A World Like This Tour” with Backstreet Boys, DJ Pauly D, Jesse McCartney • When 7 p.m. Saturday • Where Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 14141 Riverport Drive, Maryland Heights • How much $26-$145 • More info Ticketmaster.com
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