Say what you like about the Backstreet Boys, but they changed music. In particular, they changed the way that boybands have to accept awards by singing "thank you" in a five-part harmony, but that still counts.

But despite changing music - and somehow convincing a bunch of hormone-ravaged teenage girls to scream at a group that's made of two blokes with crap facial hair, a man with a head with the same dimensions as a cardboard box and two other anonymous gits - being a Backstreet Boy isn't all it's cracked up to be. Kevin Richardson - one of the ones with a stupid beard - has spectacularly quit the Backstreet Boys. Well, we say 'spectacularly' but we didn't even realise the Backstreet Boys were still together.

The Backstreet Boys were one of the hit sensations of the late 1990s, striking gold with that song about playing games with their hearts and that song about them being back and no other songs. And - for a boyband, at least - they've always maintained a united front. Well, except for when they split up and released a bunch of solo albums that nobody bought before they decided to get back together and record an album that nobody bought, obviously.

And, although the Backstreet Boys are still plugging away making a new album and manfully ignoring the fact that they're really getting a bit old for this sort of thing, one of their number has decided enough is enough. Kevin Richardson - the Backstreet Boy who most resembles the Grim Reaper - has ducked out of the group after leaving a note of the Backstreet Boys website:

"It was a very tough decision for me but one that was necessary in order to move on with the next chapter of my life. Howard, Brian, Alex and Nick will always be my little brothers and have my utmost love and support. I would like to thank the Backstreet fans for all the beautiful memories we have shared together and look forward to including you in the next phase of my life."

What is this much-heralded 'next chapter' that Kevin Richardson keeps banging on about? We're not sure, but we'd imagine it involves sitting around gently sobbing in his pants all day watching Jeremy Kyle and eating Pot Noodle sandwiches. The rest of the Backstreet Boys aren't going to replace Kevin Richardson, though. Although this is probably because they'd have trouble finding a man in his mid-thirties with such low self-esteem that he'd be prepared to prance around on a stage, this is what they said:

"We have no intention of replacing Kevin, and the door will always be open for him to return to the Backstreet Boys. We wish him the all the best in his future endeavors."

Translation: he'll be back. They always come back.

Read more:

Richardson leaves Backstreet Boys - BBC

[story by Stuart Heritage]