Richard Burton Cronin was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was raised in the Boston neighborhood of West Roxbury, and moved to the city of Kingston on the south shore of Massachusetts later. He attended a Catholic High School (Sacred Heart) and graduated in 1993. LFO (with former member Brian Gillis (aka "Brizz" Gillis)) released 2 singles in Europe in 1997/1998 but failed to make it in America until 1999. Brizz had now left LFO, to be replaced by Harold "Devin" Lima. Rich then wrote and recorded the song "Summer Girls" in Danny Wood's, of New Kids On The Block, basement. After giving a copy of the song to a friend at Logic Records, Summer Girls was leaked to a radio station in Washington, DC, and the song immediately blew up. "Summer Girls" has been called the anthem of the Summer of 1999. In 2000, Rich began dating Jennifer Love Hewitt, but their relationship ended weeks after he went public about it in "Teen People" magazine. Rich moved from Orlando to Massachusetts last summer .