RAS: Well my guest this morning is one of pop music’s most recognized and best selling artists, Brian Littrell. Having sold nearly 80 million albums world wide with 12 US top 40’s hits, he reached the highest heights of fame as a member of the Backstreet Boys. Brian achieved the success despite being born with a hole in his heart that nearly took his life numerous times. Last year, Brian surprised many of his fans when he released his first Christian recording, “In Christ Alone,” which quickly became a number one hit single and now in his debut Christian album, “Welcome Home,” Brian shares his faith in Jesus Christ while encouraging others to do the same. Brian is not only letting his faith shine through his music, but also through his life. He is the founder of the non-profit organization, the Brian Littrell Healthy Heart Club for Kids. He’s a devoted husband to his wife Leighanne, and father to their son Baylee Thomas Wiley Littrell. Please welcome with me, Brian Littrell. Brian..
BL: Hi, Dr. Schuller.
RAS: ..God loves you and so do I. Well how did you start singing?
BL: I grew up in the small town of Lexington Kentucky, singing in the Southern Baptist church, actually, Porter Memorial Baptist Church was where I grew up. I come from you know a blessed family.
RAS: When you say you sang there, were you in the choir?
BL: I was in the kids’ choirs and..
RAS: So did you have a robe?
BL: No we didn’t do the robes.
RAS: Didn’t do the robe thing? Okay.
BL: Didn’t do the robes, but I can maybe try one on.
RAS: Well we can find one for you, I have no doubt. Jim, why don’t you.. no, just kidding.
BL: No, so I grew up singing in church as a little boy. My mom and dad sing in the choir, my grandparents sang so it was a God given gift that was, I think, granted to the whole family, so..
RAS: And when did you start singing solo’s or quartets or quintets or whatever it is?
BL: Wow, it was probably the age of 5 and 6 was when I first remember really delivering the solos in the church choir and the congregation. But..
RAS: So a childhood prodigy?
BL: ..well I don’t know about that. I just think, you know, I’m blessed. I’ve been gifted in my life. God’s given me a wonderful gift but He’s also allowed me the biggest gift of all and that’s to stand for Him and show the world that I’m not afraid of who I am and who God’s made me.
RAS: So how do you transition from the local Baptist church to the Backstreet Boys? Is it just a little bit of a transition there, I’d assume.
BL: It was a huge transition but it literally happened overnight. My cousin Kevin is the oldest member of the group. Him and I grew up together, all of our families sing together. And he had moved to Florida, to Orlando just after the loss of his father, who was my uncle. And started working at Disney World and then got involved with Howie, Nick and AJ, became a member of the Backstreet Boys and he kept referring to the cousin who was blonde hair and blue eyed and would fit right in, and so I got the chance. It was April 20th of 1993. I’ll never forget flying on a plane the first time by myself to really, you know, have a life changing moment. And I truly believe God has done nothing but multiply my audiences. So..
RAS: So how old were you when you went out there to Florida for the first time? Were you..
BL: I had just turned 18.
RAS: So you were just 18.
BL: Yes sir.
RAS: Graduated from high school?
BL: I was a junior.
RAS: Oh you were still in high school. You were a junior in high school. Hadn’t even graduated.
BL: I had not even graduated yet. With the heart defect that I was born with, I was held back in the first grade because I missed about two months of first grade. So, that’s why I was a year older than my friends. But I was getting ready to accept a four-year scholarship, a vocal scholarship to Cincinnati Bible College, where I was going to attend and study youth ministry and music ministry. And that’s when God said..
RAS: Wow.
BL: ..well I’ve got other plans. So He moved me to Florida and here we are 14 years later and I’m really impacted, hopefully impacting lives in a positive way. That’s hopefully what the Backstreet Boys have done for many families all over the world and I can continue to do that and share my spirit and my hope.
RAS: Well, well I’ve heard that your concerts are very family friendly.
BL: They are. They are.
RAS: So people can bring their kids and they don’t have to worry about..
BL: They do..
RAS: ..any unusual displays.
BL: ..you are correct. I value I pride myself in saying that the Backstreet Boys have made for over a decade good quality music for families. I was sharing with a young lady backstage, I was like you know Backstreet Boys make music where you can play the whole CD and the parents end up, you know, really coming to and drawn to the music, because it is positive and it does bring families together and generations together. It’s not the music that is, you know, oh Jimmy tell me when track number five gets here so daddy can skip it. It’s not that. It’s good quality music.
RAS: When did you discover you had a hole in your heart?
BL: Well, we have to go back over 31 years ago; I was born with a congenital heart defect, a heart murmur.
RAS: So you’ve always known it then?
BL: I’ve always known, yes. It wasn’t until age 5 that I was in the hospital for about two months of my first grade year where I had developed an infection, a bacterial infection that I was not supposed to live from. It’s only by the grace of God and a miracle that I am here today. And I really think that God is using me in an amazing way to really stand up for what I believe in and stand up for what He has showed me in my life’s path. We fast forward to 23 years old and traveling with the Backstreet Boys and discovering the stress of life and lack of rest and not eating correctly. My heart was enlarging so in 1998 I underwent open-heart surgery at the age of 23 and that’s when my wife and I and my mom and dad founded the Brian Littrell Healthy Heart Club For Kids because we really.. in having a personal experience with going through a struggle like that, it is a testament to your faith. And God really used the height of the Backstreet Boys career to keep my feet on the ground by going right after my heart. And it’s such a blessing and I love to share my story. I’m blessed.
RAS: So, in the surgery they closed the heart?
BL: They did, they did. They went in, and I feel like a surgeon or a doctor; I don’t have my doctorate, but..
RAS: That’s ok.
BL: ..I feel like a surgeon when I talk about it. They went in and sewed the VSD which is a ventricular septal defect up with my own tissue. It was kind of.. Dr. Danielson the surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, he said kind of while we’re here we’ll just flip his heart over and see what’s on the back side and there happened to be a hole the size of a half dollar on my tricuspid valve on the backside of my heart. And it had not shown up on any tests, any echocardiogram or anything like that. So, it’s only by the grace of God that really I was able to continue traveling the world with the Backstreet Boys and really using the Backstreet Boys as a huge platform for my ministry because that’s what God has really called me to do.
RAS: So God helped you through the open-heart surgery, your heart is in good shape. Talking about heart, your heart throb Leighanne.
BL: Oh.
RAS: How did you meet her?
BL: I call her my better three fourths, you know..
RAS: Yeah.
BL: ..we normally say better half, but she’s my better three fourths, so, my lovely wife, I met her.. we’ve just celebrated over 9 years together. We’ve been married over 6 years. We’re proud parents of Baylee Thomas Wylie Littrell. We only say that when he gets in trouble. But..
RAS: Otherwise he’s simply Baylee, right?
BL: Yes, yes. Or bubby or some.. you know..
RAS: Bubby, is that his nickname?
BL: We have all kinds of nicknames.
RAS: Well he’s here in church this morning. Both your wife and your son are in church, and your parents.
BL: He is.
RAS: Would you stand up? We want to welcome you to the Cathedral.
BL: That’s my mother Jackie and my father Harold.
RAS: Look at those curls, wow.
BL: I’ve got many, many stories to share about my son being on tour with the Backstreet Boys. He would always steal my microphone and then he would come over and he would say daddy lets sing together. And I said well I can’t sing because you have my microphone. And he would say well go get Nick’s. So it was like, you know, how does a three year old justify, go get somebody else’s. I’ve got yours. So, you know God has done nothing but bless my life continually and continues to do so. And I’m very proud to be here. What a beautiful place this is to be here to share my faith.
RAS: Well thank you. Now you have a new CD out entitled, “Welcome Home.”
BL: Yes.
RAS: And what do you want to tell us about this?
BL: Well “Welcome Home” is.. I think it encompasses everything I am as an artist. Growing up singing in church, I’ve been influenced by any and all types of music because I am a music fan. And little did I know that I would have the opportunity to touch so many people’s lives on a Backstreet Boys stage. But what you will find on the “Welcome Home” CD is really who I am as a father, who I am as a son, who I am as a brother, and just as a person. It’s got contemporary Christian music on it, it has traditional southern gospel music on it, and it has mainstream pop music on it as well, that is in an inspirational fashion, so that’s what you’ll find. If you don’t have it already, pick it up and it’ll touch your heart. I’m not sure how, but it will in some way.
RAS: I have no doubt..
BL: All right!
RAS: ..it will. Brian, it sounds like you’re ready to sing.
BL: Oh, okay.
RAS: Will you sing for us?
BL: I will do that, sir.
RAS: Brian, we appreciate it. Thank you.
BL: Thank you, Reverend.
RAS: God bless you.
BL: Appreciate it.
RAS: And so do we.