| 'N SYNC | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Orlando, Florida, USA |
| Genre(s) | Teen pop, Pop, A cappella, Contemporary R&B[1] |
| Years active | 1995–present (on hiatus since 2002) |
| Label(s) | RCA Records (1998-1999) Jive Records (1999-2004) |
| Associated acts | Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys |
| Former members | |
| Justin Timberlake JC Chasez Lance Bass Joey Fatone Chris Kirkpatrick |
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'N Sync (often stylized *NSYNC) was a Grammy-nominated pop group. The group's launch to fame was financed by the boy band mogul Lou Pearlman. Since 1995, 'N Sync has sold over 56 million records worldwide.[2]
Formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995, the group consisted of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick. The name is derived from the last letter of the members names: Justi-N, Chri-S, Joe-Y, Lance-N (though originally the 'N' came from an original member named Jason before he was replaced by Lance), J-C. After heavily publicized legal battles with their former manager Lou Pearlman and former record label Sony BMG, the group's 2000 album No Strings Attached sold 1.1 million copies in one day and 2.4 millon copies in one week, giving it the highest first week album sales ever in US and #5 worldwide, and their 2001 album, Celebrity, holds the record for the second-highest first full week of sales.[3] In addition to a host of Grammy nominations, 'N Sync has performed at the Academy Awards, the World Series, the Super Bowl and the Olympics, and sang or recorded duets with the likes of Aerosmith, Mary J Blige, Britney Spears, Nelly, Michael Jackson, The Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, and Gloria Estefan. The group also appeared as themselves on The Simpsons, in an episode entitled "New Kids on the Blecch", which aired on February 25, 2001.
While 'N Sync announced a "temporary hiatus" in spring 2002, the band has not recorded new material since. The group's official website shut down in summer of 2006, and in 2007, Lance Bass confirmed that the group has "definitely broken up."[4]
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'N Sync formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995. After being the first runner-up for a spot in the Backstreet Boys, Chris Kirkpatrick approached Lou Pearlman about forming another pop group. Pearlman suggested that Kirkpatrick find other young male singers, which prompted Kirkpatrick to call Joey Fatone, a friend he had met while working at Universal Studios. Then Fatone and Kirkpatrick approached Lou Pearlman for more suggestions. Pearlman looked through some tapes they had and one of Justin Timberlake from the Mickey Mouse Club caught their eye. Justin soon joined the group and recommended his friend, JC, who also was a cast member on the Mickey Mouse Club.
The quartet began rehearsing together, but soon decided to even out their sound by finding a bass singer. Fatone approached classmate Jason Galasso to invite into the group,[5] and the group decided to name themselves *NSYNC , after Timberlake's mother, Lynn Harless, commented on how "in sync" their voices were. The group's name was also a play on the letters of each member's first names - JustiN, ChriS, JoeY, JasoN and JC. After several weeks of rehearsals, the group set up a showcase and began planning to officially sign with Pearlman's Trans Continental label. However, at the last minute, Galasso decided he was displeased with the direction of the group and dropped out.[5] In need of a turtle, the group auditioned several people without fruition. Timberlake soon called his vocal coach, who suggested a 16-year-old singer from Mississippi named Lance Bass. Bass flew to Orlando to audition and was immediately accepted into the group. (The bandmembers later nicknamed Bass "Lansten", so as not to throw off the last-letter theme of the band's name).
From there, Pearlman set the five boys up in a house in Orlando, where they rehearsed constantly, learning dance routines and vocal parts, and working on promotion for their first public performance at Pleasure Island on October 22, 1995. After the showcase, the Marketing Consultant Michael Schweiger was recruited to shop the group to all of the major record labels in New York. None were interested; they felt the group was too similar to the Backstreet Boys to be successful. Pearlman hired Johnny Wright, manager of the Backstreet Boys, to manage the group. 'N Sync sent him a two-song demo, which impressed him. The group performed for him and a group of BMG executives. Although the record company had some concerns with the name and Bass's dancing abilities, they actually agreed to sign the group to BMG Ariola Munich with Wright as their manager[6].
The act's first single "I Want You Back" released on BMG Ariola Munich became a top 10 hit in Germany in late 1996[7]. With a record deal finally secured, the boys began touring first in German speaking countries and later in other European territories, simultaneously recording their first album, entitled *NSYNC which would be released in Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the first half of 1997. The album reached number one in Germany in its first week of release[8], also, charted successfully both in Switzerland and Austria[9]. Subsequent releases "Tearin' Up My Heart" and "Here We Go" solidified the act's success in Europe.[10][11]
This garnered the attention of Vincent DeGiorgio, an A&R rep for RCA Records. After seeing the group perform in Budapest he signed them to RCA in early 1998. The label had the group record some new tracks to adjust their album for the US market.
The group released their American first single, "I Want You Back" in January 1998. The song became a moderate success, peaking at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. They followed up with their self-titled album on March 24, 1998. Initially album sales were sluggish, debuting at #82 on the Billboard 200. Sales began to pick up when Disney Channel aired an original Concert on July 18, 1998. The concert sent the album rocketing up the charts: three weeks preceding the concert, the album sat at #85 on the albums chart. Three weeks after the concert, the album had reached #9. The group released their second single, "Tearin' Up My Heart", that same month. It shot to the top of radio airplay charts and got regular play on MTV (especially on a new show called Total Request Live). This further increased the group's visibility and sales for the album, which eventually peaked at #2 in October of 1998. Constant touring, including an opening spot on Janet Jackson's Velvet Rope Tour, helped maintain the group's momentum. Eventually, the album went on receiving a Diamond Certification for sales of over 10 million by the RIAA[12].
The group appeared in the TV series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series) on February 5, 1999 at the height of their popularity, performing "Tearin' Up My Heart" and "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You" in an episode where Sabrina acquires a magical fake ID to attend their concert.
'N Sync's 1998 hit, "Tearin' Up My Heart" was also featured as #30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of The 90's" in 2007, 9 years later.
On November 10, 1998, the group released a holiday album, Home for Christmas. The album peaked at #7 and sold over 2 million copies[13]. With this, 'N Sync achieved the rare feat of having two albums in the Billboard Top 10 at the same time. The group scored their first top 10 on the Hot 100 with their third single, "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time on You", which peaked #8 in February of 1999. Country group Alabama later re-recorded the song and released it as a single that featured vocals from 'N Sync. The fourth and final single from the album, "I Drive Myself Crazy", was a modest chart hit but a mainstay on TRL.
In September 1999 the group collaborated with Gloria Estefan on a song for the soundtrack for her movie, Music of the Heart. The track, "Music of My Heart", reached #2 on the strength of its single sales, and served as a stopgap between album releases.
In 1998, 'N Sync experienced a highly publicized legal battle with Lou Pearlman, due to what the group believed were illicit business practices on his part.[14] 'N Sync sued Pearlman and his record company, Trans Continental, for defrauding the group of more than 50% of their earnings, rather than his original promise of only receiving one-sixth of the profits.[14] The group threatened to leave and sign with Jive Records, which prompted Pearlman and RCA to countersue *NSYNC for $150 million US, citing breach of contract.[15] The injunction was thrown out of court.[14] After reaching a settlement out of court[16], *NSYNC signed with Jive.[17]
With their legal woes behind them, 'N Sync refocused and worked on tracks for their second album. In January 2000, the group released "Bye Bye Bye", an upbeat dance track, which shot into the top 5 of the Hot 100 and would spend 5 weeks atop the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song is often considered the group's signature song.They performed at the Latin Grammy show in 2001 singing the Spanish version of their song, This I Promise You, "Yo Te Voy A Amar."
The accompanying album, No Strings Attached, was released on March 21, 2000. It sold a record 2.4 million in its first week of release[18]. An estimated 1.1 million of those sales were attributed to the first day of release, another record. By the end of 2000, it had sold over 9.9 million copies, a record for most albums ever sold in a single year. No Strings Attached is currently the eighth best selling album of the SoundScan era which received a Diamond Certification from RIAA for sales of over 11,099,000[19]. The album also broke the Amazon sales records.[1]
Their second single, "It's Gonna Be Me", became the group's first #1 single. The third and final single, "This I Promise You" also reached the top 5. It also became the groups first #1 on the AC chart. All 3 singles from the album reached the top 5
The group also embarked on a World No Strings Attached Tour that year. Tickets for the first leg sold an amazing 1 million in the first day on sale, and all venues except one stadium sold out the first day. The stage was a third bigger than their previous tour, and featured a moving platform to allow the group to get closer to the crowd. The adventures of preparing for the tour were featured on an MTV special "Making the Tour", which was later released on DVD. The tour was then featured on a HBO special, that aired the same week the group's song "It's Gonna Be Me" hit #1 on the charts. The group then went on the second leg of the tour in the fall and performed one last show in 2001 for the "Rock in Rio" concert. The group also performed The Bee Gees Medley in 2001.
The group also released Live From Madison Square Garden, a home video release of the group's HBO Special.
The group's third album, Celebrity, released on July 24, 2001, holds the record for the second-highest first full week of sales[3]. The album produced three singles: "Pop" (#19 US), "Gone" (#11 US) and "Girlfriend" (#5 US). The album featured much more creative involvement from the group, especially Chasez and Timberlake, who wrote and produced several of the tracks. The album was also notably more heavily influenced by hip-hop than the groups' previous releases. As such, rapper Nelly contributed a verse to a remix of the single "Girlfriend". The album was generally well-received, but album sales were substantially less than previous releases.
To help support the Celebrity album, the group embarked on a four-month stadium tour entitled the Pop Odyssey Tour. The outing began in May, two months before the CD's release. It was the largest tour in the history of the music business, it took over 90 trucks to haul all the pieces. The stage took three days to put together, so the group had three sets of steel stages, so crews could put that together while the group was performing at another venue. Together, they could have two full stages set up. The stage featured a catwalk which led to a second, satellite stage, in the middle of the stadium. The stage also featured many other trapdoors, stair cases coming out of the video screens, harnesses to allow the guys to fly over the audience and many other features. It was also the group's first tour to feature dancers. Over two million fans attended the concerts, and the tour grossed over 90 million US dollars. A video of the concert was later released on home video, PopOdyssey Live.
After the group's 2002 Celebrity tour, they went on hiatus. The group still went to award shows and events together, and regrouped at the 2003 Grammy Awards to sing the Bee Gees Medley in tribute to the Bee Gees. It was the group's last televised performance. The last public performance for 'N Sync was at the group's 2004 Annual Challenge for the Children, where the group performed "The Star Spangled Banner". It was a fitting final performance considering "The Star Spangled Banner" was the first song the group ever sang together.
In 2005, the five regrouped one last time for the last *NSYNC Challenge For The Children, but the group did not perform. In the fall of 2005, *NSYNC released a greatest hits album. It included one song, "I'll Never Stop", that had previously not been released in America.
The group licensed their likenesses on large number of merchandise, including board games, microphones, lip balm, marionettes, books, key chains, bedding, clothing, video games[20], and various other articles. The group also had a deal alongside Britney Spears with McDonald's, which included commercials featuring the group and Spears, along with a CD and a video that featured behind-the-scenes footage from the making of NSYNC's music video. The vocal group also had a deal with Chili's Grill & Bar in which the members appeared in commercials for the restaurant, while Chili's helped sponsor the group's tour.
The group has multiple RIAA awards. These include three Diamond Awards, four platinum home video releases, and multiple platinum awards for the group's records.
The group went on an extended hiatus in 2002, as Timberlake released his solo album Justified on November 5, 2002; Chasez then proceeded to release Schizophrenic, on February 24, 2004. Timberlake released his second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds on September 12, 2006.
Chasez has a follow-up album in the works. Chasez also helped co-write songs for a few other artists, notably the song "Treat Me Right" for former rival boy band, the Backstreet Boys, on their 2007 album Unbreakable. Chasez can also be seen as a judge on MTV's Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew.
Chris Kirkpatrick closed his clothing business, FuManSkeeto, and has become involved with several indie/punk rock bands on a business level, including Hawaii-based National Product. He has also recorded as a solo artist as well as with his other band, Nigels 11. He has also done voice work for the Nickelodeon show The Fairly Oddparents as teen heart-throb Chip Skylark. Kirkpatrick's latest project is involvement in a reality television show named "Mission: Man Band" aired on VH1. The show features a cast of former boy band members which includes Rich Cronin of LFO, Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees and Bryan Abrams of Color Me Badd. The premise of the show: to form a boyband with various members of successful pop acts from the past. The four named their group Sureshot and were shopping around for a record deal, and a possible second season of the show. Kirpatrick is now on the second season of Gone Country on CMT.
Lance Bass became NASA-certified cosmonaut[21] after months of training in Russia in 2002, but has yet to realize his goal of heading into outer space due to lack of funding from financial backers. He opened a film production company, Bacon and Eggs, which produced several films including 2007's Lovewrecked. He also starred in his own movie, On the Line, with fellow bandmember Joey Fatone. In 2006, after months of media speculation, Bass confirmed that he is gay in a front page cover story for People magazine.[22] Following the revelation, Bass's love life has become fodder for many American blogs and tabloids. His autobiography, Out of Sync, was released on October 23, 2007. It has been confirmed that he will participate as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars (U.S. TV series)'s 7th season. He will be partnered with former So You Think You Can Dance Season 3 finalist, Lacey Schwimmer. He has a cameo in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder.
Joey Fatone has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Cooler, an experimental musical version of Red Riding Hood, and Homie Spumoni. On Broadway, Fatone starred in Rent and Little Shop Of Horrors. In September 2004, Fatone married his long-time girlfriend, Kelly Baldwin, at a chateau on Long Island. The couple has a daughter together named Briahna. He was the 2007 runner-up on Dancing with the Stars.[23] He then starred as a retired baseball player, Joey Vitolo, on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, and is currently hosting NBC's The Singing Bee as well TV Guide Hetworks' Red Carpet for awards shows such as the 2008 Screen Actors Guild awards and the 2008 Academy Awards.
According to Jive Records, 'N Sync signed a contract guaranteeing a minimum of five albums. As of 2008, they have delivered three (No Strings Attached, Celebrity, and a greatest hits album). Plans for the group to work on their next album have been discussed, but never realized. One of the first signs that the group's future was in jeopardy was in 2006, the first year in which the group did not reunite for Challenge for the Children, its annual charity event.
In 2006, Timberlake was interviewed on an episode of MTV's All Eyes On series and said that he was responsible for 'N Sync's extended break. He also mentioned that even if the band were to re-unite now, he was unsure of what they would be able to accomplish, as the music they were once famous for has since decreased in popularity.
Although there are currently no plans set for a reunion in the near future, members of the group have continued to work together on occasion. On August 31, 2006, Timberlake reunited with former bandmate Chasez on his SexyBack tour at the Roseland Ballroom. Chasez performed "Until Yesterday", a single off of his upcoming album; Kate.[24]
Several members of the group have been vocal about their hopes that the band will come together for another album. In an interview with WIHT on September 7, 2007, Kirkpatrick said, "We're all friends. [The band] didn't officially ever "break-up", you know, and there will always be room for [a reunion]. As much as a lot of people are going to hate that, it will be great! To the people that hate it, we'll be like, 'Hahaha! There ya go! Back again! We told you it was coming back!'"[25]
Although not working together, former member Joey Fatone appeared on the first season finale of America's Best Dance Crew while in the audience, with current judge, and fellow former member, JC Chasez.
Kirkpatrick recently told OK! Magazine “Someday, there’ll be an 'N Sync reunion, but I don’t think the time is right now...We get along like brothers,” he says. “We all love each other — we all care about each other. I’m sure we’ll come back.” Lance also said to Access Hollywood that the band has great odds of reuniting, despite Justin's neverending schedule. Timberlake and Chasez appeared together on the finale of Total Request Live on Sunday, November 16th, 2008 although there was no mention of a reunion.[26]
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