Backstreet Boys' Kevin Richardson Left 'I Want It That Way' Group Due to Lack of Inspiration in 2006

Before the Backstreet Boys' triumphant 2013 comeback with their new album "In A World Like This," fans were afraid that the boy band would never be back again. In 2006, member Kevin Richardson suddenly left the band, leaving the future of BSB up in the air. Even though the "I Want It That Way" band released one four-member band, "This Is Us" in 2009, it wasn't quite the same.

Luckily, Richardson rejoined BSB in 2012, embarking on a tour and making the band's seventh US album. And, in an interview with Access Hollywood (via Bellefast Telegraph), the oldest Backstreet Boy revealed why he left the band in the first place.

"I didn't have anything left in the tank. In 2006, there were some things I wanted to do in my own life and start a family and be normal for a while. I didn't feel inspired," he said.

Upon getting new inspiration, Richardson returned to the band last year. "Now recently I felt inspired and wanted to create again and make music again," he said.

This echoes Backstreet Boys' earlier sentiments about getting the band back together. In an interview earlier this summer, member Nick Carter said that things were falling into place for a BSB reunion, and then the band was pushed by UK boy band Take That's reunion.

"The stars were kind of aligning anyway, but when we saw what they did, the way they were received on the road, and the fact that their new music was really good -- it wasn't just some novelty thing -- we began to see what was possible," Carter told Huffington Post UK.

Backstreet Boys' new album 2013 "In A World Like This" was released on July 30. They're currently on tour, with a stop in Montreal tonight (Aug. 6).