'N Sync

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'N Sync
Image:Group2005.jpg From left to right: Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Justin Timberlake, and Chris Kirkpatrick at the 2005 Challenge For The Children event
Background information
Origin	Orlando, Florida, United States
Genre(s)	Pop, Bubblegum pop, dance-pop, teen pop, R&B[1]
Years active	1995-2002
Label(s)	Sony BMG/Jive/RCA/Zomba
Former members
Lance Bass JC Chasez Joey Fatone Chris Kirkpatrick Justin Timberlake

*NSYNC (also stylized 'N Sync) was an American boy band, widely regarded as one of the most successful pop acts of the late '90s and early 2000s, selling over 56 million records worldwide.^[2] Formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995, the group consisted of Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Justin Timberlake. After heavily publicized legal battles with their former manager Lou Pearlman and Sony BMG, the group's 2000 album No Strings Attached sold 1.1 million copies in one day and 2.4 million copies in one week, giving it the highest first week album sales in music history, 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 Super Bowl and the Olympics, and sang or recorded duets with the likes of Michael Jackson, The Jackson Five, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and Stevie Wonder. The group also appeared as themselves on The Simpsons, episode "New Kids on the Blecch" which aired on February 25, 2001.

While 'N Sync announced an "extended hiatus" in spring 2002, Lance Bass has stated that the group is "definitely broken up."^[4]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Formation and international success: 1995-1998 1.2 Breaking the American market: 1998-1999 1.3 Legal battles 1.4 Record-breaking success 1.5 Celebrity and Dirty Pop 1.6 After Celebrity 2 Marketing 2.1 RIAA Awards 3 Award shows 4 Hiatus 4.1 Future albums 5 Discography 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Formation and international success: 1995-1998

The group was formed in 1995. Lou Pearlman, while he was trying to establish himself as a formidable music manager, was looking to repeat the recent success of his first act, the Backstreet Boys. After seeing Chris Kirkpatrick perform at a show in Universal Studios Florida, Pearlman approached him about forming an all-male vocalist group. Kirkpatrick knew Justin Timberlake from his stint on The Mickey Mouse Club, and recruited him for the group. Timberlake subsequently suggested former castmate JC Chasez, who was initially reluctant to return to performing, but eventually signed on. Pearlman and the trio then went about the task of rounding out the group. In their search, Justin and Chris both knew Joey Fatone and knew he could sing. So the group approached Fatone about joining the group.

The quartet began rehearsals together, but began to feel the group was lacking without a bass singer. Fatone invited classmate Jason Watkins to join the group. The band's name reportedly developed after Justin Timberlake's mother first heard the five together and remarked how "in sync" their voices were. The boys later realized that the last letters of each member's first names - JustiN, ChriS, JoeY, JasoN (soon replaced by Lance-steN, a nickname for Lance) and JC - spelled the group's name. The five set up a showcase and set in motion plans to officially sign with Lou Pearlman's Trans Continental label. However, at the last minute, Watkins decided he was displeased with the direction of the group and dropped out. The other four signed on, and set about replacing their bass singer before their showcase, which was a mere two weeks away. After extensive auditions, Timberlake's former vocal coach suggested a 16-year-old singer named Lance Bass. Although his mother initially resisted the idea, eventually Bass too signed.

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 eventually agreed to sign the group to BMG Ariola Munich with Wright as their manager.

With a record deal finally secured, the boys began touring around Europe, simultaneously recording their first album, entitled *NSYNC which would be released on May 26, 1997. The album was preceded by the single "I Want You Back", which became a top 10 hit in Germany in late 1996. Subsequent releases "Tearin' Up My Heart" and "Here We Go" solidified the act's success in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

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.

[edit] Breaking the American market: 1998-1999

The group released their American first single, "I Want You Back" in January of 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 increasing 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 to be certified for sales of over 11 million by the RIAA.

On November 10, 1998, the group released a holiday album, Home for Christmas. The album peaked at #7 and sold over 2 million copies. 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Legal battles

In 1998, the Backstreet Boys filed a lawsuit against Lou Pearlman. Following suit, in 1999, after their American breakthrough, 'N Sync fought a court battle against Pearlman's management company, TransCon, citing illicit business practices on Pearlman's part. They pointed out that Pearlman had taken 75% of the profits they earned, rather than the 25% guaranteed them in their contract, and argued that they were entitled to even more money than that. When they threatened to sign to Jive Records, as the Backstreet Boys had, Pearlman and RCA filed a lawsuit against them, and the legal battle ensued for most of 1999, leading to delays in the recording and release of the band's next album. Eventually, the group emerged triumphant and broke their record contract with RCA.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Record-breaking success

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.

The accompanying album, No Strings Attached, was released on March 21, 2000. It sold a still-record 2.4 million copies in its first week of release, shattering the previous record for first week sales (The Backstreet Boys' Millennium album sold 1.1 million copies in its first week). 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, with sales of over 11,099,000.

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.

The group also embarked on a "No Strings Attached World" 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.^{[citation needed]} The adventures of preparing for the tour were featured on an MTV special "Making the Tour". The tour was than 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 groups HBO Special.

[edit] Celebrity and Dirty Pop

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, take 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, "Pop Odyssey Live".

[edit] After Celebrity

After the groups 2002 Celebrity tour, they went on hiatus. The group still went to award shows and event together, and regrouped at the 2003 Grammy Awards to sing the Bee Gees Melody in tribute to the Bee Gees. It was the groups last televised performance. The last public performance for 'N Sync was at the groups 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 'N Sync 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.

[edit] Marketing

The group licensed their likenesses on large number of merchandise, including board games, microphones, lip balm, dolls, books, key chains, bedding, clothing, 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] RIAA Awards

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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Award shows

At the 2000 VMAs, during which the group danced behind television screens. Timberlake is quoted as once saying, "The Backstreet Boys couldn't touch us after this," referring to the 2000 performance.^{[citation needed]} In addition to other VMA performances in 1999 and 2001, the group also performed at the Grammy's, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Latin Grammy Awards, the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, Radio Music Awards and various other award shows between the years of 1999 and 2003. The groups last award show was the 2003 Grammy's.

[edit] Hiatus

The group went on an extended hiatus in 2002, as Justin Timberlake released its solo album Justified on November 4, 2002; JC 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-wrote 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".

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. Chris' 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 are currently shopping around for a record deal, and a possible second season of the show.^{[citation needed]}

Bass became a NASA-certified cosmonaut^[5] 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.^[6] Following the revelation, Bass's love life has become fodder for many American blogs and tabloids. In 2007, he took over the role of Corny Collins in the Broadway musical Hairspray. His autobiography, Out of Sync, was released on October 23, 2007.

Fatone has been 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^[7], and is currently hosting NBC's The Singing Bee.

[edit] Future albums

According to Jive Records, 'N Sync signed a contract guaranteeing a minimum of five albums. So far they have delivered only three (No Strings Attached, Celebrity and a greatest hits album). This means the band is still contractually obligated to deliver two more records, though there is no specific deadline on when they must be delivered.^{[citation needed]}

Plans for the group to work on their fifth 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 its annual charity event, Challenge for the Children.

In 2006, Timberlake was interviewed on an episode of MTV's All Eyes On series and inadvertently^{[citation needed]} admitted 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.^[8]

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!'"^[9] On September 13, 2007, Fatone responded to the possibility of a future reunion by saying, "You never know. Once everyone has a break from all the stuff they are doing, it’s always a possibility, maybe two or three years down the road."^[10]

However, on October 23, 2007, Bass stated, "We're definitely broken up. It's not a hiatus."^[4] Bass also squashed any rumors of a group reunion in the nearby future, stating that Timberlake "made it clear that he wouldn't be interested in discussing another album any time soon."^[4]

[edit] Discography

Main article: 'N Sync discography

Albums

1. *NSYNC, German release - May 26, 1997.
2. *NSYNC - March 24, 1998
3. Home For Christmas - November 10, 1998
4. The Winter Album - November 17, 1998 (released only in Europe; equivalent of half of the Home For Christmas album released in U.S. and the songs that were released first in their U.S. debut like "I Drive Myself Crazy", etc.)
5. No Strings Attached - March 21, 2000
6. Celebrity - July 24, 2001
7. Greatest Hits - October 25, 2005

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Justin Timberlake Official Site
• JC Chasez Official Site
• Lance Bass Official Site

v • d • e 'N Sync
Lance Bass • JC Chasez • Joey Fatone • Chris Kirkpatrick • Justin Timberlake
Discography
Studio Albums: *NSYNC • No Strings Attached • Celebrity
Other Albums: Home for Christmas • The Winter Album
Compilations: Greatest Hits
Singles: "I Want You Back" • "Tearin' Up My Heart" • "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You" • "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" • "I Drive Myself Crazy" • "Music of My Heart" • "Bye Bye Bye" • "It's Gonna Be Me" • "This I Promise You" • "Pop" • "Gone" • "Girlfriend"
Related articles
Lou Pearlman • Johnny Wright • Jive Records

bg:'N Sync

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