“Don't wanna be your fool
In this game for two
So I'm leavin' you behind
Bye, bye, bye...”

*NSYNC – “Bye, Bye, Bye”

In the heyday of bubblegum pop and boy band mania, with the  massive popularity of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, it was pretty easy for most to dismiss *NSYNC as another wave in a soon-to-pass fad.  Doubters were proved wrong pretty quickly, with the tremendous success of their 1998 self-titled debut, which would peak at #2 on the charts.  Looking back, it’s actually kind of hard to imagine that they really only had three albums and a Christmas compilation to their credit.

Though the public had gotten used to the pre-fab boy band idea starting as far back as The Monkees, and the more recent New Kids on the Block, *NSYNC’s story actually began much earlier, back in the days of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, which featured a number of child prodigies, including future-*NSYNCers Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez.  After their time on the show, the two relocated to Nashville, Tennessee to work on solo projects, sharing vocal coaches and songwriters. 

*NSYNC actually formed out of the Orlando music scene in 1995, after founding member Chris Kirkpatrick became ‘first runner-up’ for a spot in the Backstreet Boys.  He approached the Backstreet Boys’ manager, Lou Pearlman, about forming another group.  Pearlman sent Kirkpatrick on his way to find other people to join the band, and he soon befriended Timberlake, who had recently moved back into the Orlando area.  Timberlake agreed to join and suggested calling up his Mickey Mouse Club pal, Chasez, to see if he was interested.  They later approached Joey Fatone and became a quartet.  After rounding out their sound with a fifth member, bass vocalist Jason Galasso, they came up with the name *NSYNC, based on the last letters of their first name.  Just as things were getting underway, Galasso left the group, leaving the fledgling band in need of a bass.  They found their match, funny enough, with 16 year-old Lance Bass (whose last name is pronounced more like the fish and less like the musical term). 

By the end of 1995, the five of them were set up in a house in Orlando where they rehearsed and promoted constantly, landing gigs at the Walt Disney World Resort.  The timing for the band just didn’t seem right to most record companies, who felt that *NSYNC’s sound was too close to other boy bands of the time.  Why pick up and spend the effort to promote more of the same?  Somehow, by magic, or who knows, they got picked up by BMG… in Germany.  So the band packed their bags and went on a European tour, releasing their first debut in Germany in the middle of 1997.  Their first single, “I Want You Back,” was released prior to the album, and created a sensation with European pop fans, going into Germany’s Top 10 in 1996.  Other singles, like “Here We Go” and “Tearin’ Up My Heart” continued the European wave of success, solidifying their popularity across the Atlantic.  American record companies caught wind of this and by 1998 they had a deal with RCA Records to release their album in their homeland. 

They started off with their first major European hit, “I Want You Back.”  It did well, though it only went to #13 on the charts.  Despite their popularity in Europe, their American debut came out with a thud.  Sales were sluggish, and things weren’t looking so great for *NSYNC.  Sales finally started to pick up after the Disney Channel aired an original concert that summer.  Suddenly, people got it.  These guys were actually good.  Their slick harmonies and dance pop sensibilities won over audiences, giving them heavy rotation on the MTV program, TRL.  The album has since gone platinum several times over, selling over 11 million copies to date. 

Following their tremendous success, *NSYNC went on tour, opening for pop star Janet Jackson.  By the end of the year, they had released a Christmas album, and collaborating with Gloria Estefan.  They were making appearances on The Tonight Show and even had cameos on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  As they learned to deal with the throngs of screaming fans, they also learned how to deal with the legal system.  Realizing that they’d been cheated of about half their earnings, along with fellow boy band the Backstreet Boys, the two groups launched what would become a heavily publicized legal battle against their manager, Lou Pearlman, who later found himself in increasing amounts of legal hot water.

By 1999, the group was signed with Jive Records, home of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.  Their first single under Jive, “Bye, Bye, Bye” – which may as well have been a kiss-off for the legal wrangling that drove them there in the first place – became a smash hit, reaching into the Top 5 of the pop charts.  The track is considered their signature song, both a radio and concert favorite, mixing a solid dance groove with heavy hitting harmonies to make some primo ear candy.  Their sophomore album, the aptly named No Strings Attached, was an immediate smash hit and broke records by selling over 2.4 million copies in its first week, a record the band still holds.   And just for clarification, 1.1 million of those copies were sold on the first day alone, and by the end of the year had sold over 9.9 million copies, breaking another record, the most albums sold in a single year.  To date, the album has sold over 11 million copies.  The second single off the album, “It’s Gonna Be Me,” went on to become the band’s first chart-topping single, and their third and final single, the Richard Marx-penned “This I Promise You,” went into the Top 5.

At the start of the millennium, *NSYNC were bonafide superstars.  They followed up the record-breaking success of No Strings Attached with the nearly record-breaking release of Celebrity, which holds the rank of second-highest first week sales.  The album gave the band greater control over the creativity involved, with Timberlake and Chasez writing and producing many of the tracks.  Most noticeable for fans was the heavy hip-hop influence of the album, which came through pretty clearly on the three big singles from Celebrity, “Pop,” “Gone” and “Girlfriend.”  After the release of Celebrity, *NSYNC embarked on the massive four month-long Pop Odyssey Tour. 

After the tour, the band took a break in 2002, going on to solo endeavors and regrouping periodically for appearances and a performance at a Bee Gees tribute.  That same year, Justin Timberlake released a solo album, Justified.  Timberlake has gone on to build a hugely successful solo career, which we’re sure most of you realize by now.  In 2004, Chasez released his solo effort, Schizophrenic.  He continues to record and has written songs for other groups, most notably “Treat Me Right” for the Backstreet Boys.  Chris Kirkpatrick has gone on a variety of business endeavors, from creating his own clothing line, to becoming financially involved with a number of indie and rock acts.  Joey Fatone has taken on a career in acting, appearing in movies such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Cooler, and has appeared on Broadway both in Rent and Little Shop of Horrors.  Lance Bass went on to have a career of astronomical proportions, literally.  Now a NASA-certified cosmonaut, he has also performed on Broadway, for the musical Hairspray.  Though the band never officially broke up, they have yet to hit the studios together again, though that hasn’t stopped their biggest fans from hoping.