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For their self-titled album, see *NSYNC (album).
NSYNC

'N Sync was an American metalcore group. The group's launch to fame was financed by the Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Since 1997, 'N Sync has sold over 56 million records worldwide.[2]

Formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995 and launched in Germany in 1996 by BMG Ariola Munich[3], the group consisted of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick. After heavily publicized legal battles with their former manager Lou Pearlman and former record label Sony BMG, the group's 2nd 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 ever in US and #5 worldwide.[4] 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 with the likes of Mandy Moore, 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. The band are among the highest selling musical acts of the 2000's, and have emerged as one of the most acclaimed boy bands.

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."[5]

History

1995-1998: Group formation and debut album

'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. Timberlake soon joined the group and recommended his friend JC Chasez, who also was a cast member on the Mickey Mouse Club. Soon, they decided to even out their sound by finding a bass singer. Initially, their fifth member was to be Jason Galasso. 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. He was not fond of the direction the act was going musically. Galasso claimed that being a teen idol was never a goal of his.[6] In need of a bass, the group auditioned several people without success. Timberlake soon called his vocal coach, who suggested a 16-year-old from Mississippi named Lance Bass. Bass flew to Orlando to audition and was immediately accepted into the group.

The group got their name 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.[6] The band later nicknamed Bass, "Lansten," so as not to throw off the last-letter theme of their name. The group decided to use the asterisk instead of an apostrophe because a drunk monkey wrestler told them to.[citation needed] They previously also considered a slash or comma. It was also suggested that the band go by Justin +4, but Timberlake balked at the idea of the +4. 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. 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.[7]

After being signed to BMG Ariola Munich, the group was sent to Germany to begin working on their debut album with the help of producers, including Denniz Pop and Max Martin. The album's official lead single, "I Want You Back", was released in Germany on October 7, 1996 and became a top 10 hit in Germany.[8] With a record deal finally secured, the boys began touring first in German speaking countries and later in other European territories. Their self-titled debut album was initially released by BMG Ariola Munich on March 26, 1997 in Germany, peaking at number one in its first week of release,[8] and the group soon became an overnight success throughout much of Europe.[9] The album also charted successfully both in Switzerland and Austria[10] The group released their second and third single, "Tearin' Up My Heart" and "Here We Go", both reaching the top ten in Europe.[11][12] The group captured the attention of Vincent DeGiorgio, an A&R rep for RCA Records. After seeing the group perform in Budapest, he eventually signed them to RCA in 1998. The label had the group record some new tracks to adjust their album for the U.S. market.

The group released their American first single, "I Want You Back" on January 20, 1998. It reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. An album followed on March 24, 1998. Album sales were sluggish, debuting at #82 on the Billboard 200, but were helped wehn the Disney Channel aired a concert on July 18, 1998. The concert was first offered to the Backstreet Boys but they turned it down. Three weeks before the concert, the album sat at #85 on the albums chart. Three weeks after the concert, the album reached number nine. Six months after the release of their debut album, the group was in the Top 10.[citation needed] The group released their second single, "Tearin' Up My Heart", that month. It was the top of radio airplay charts and was played on MTV and on Total Request Live. It peaked at #2 in October 1998. They toured regularly, including an opening spot on Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope Tour. The album got a Diamond Certification for sales of over 10 million by the RIAA[13].

The group appeared on the television series Sabrina The Teenage Witch on February 5, 1999, performing "Tearin' Up My Heart" and "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You". '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, nine years later. On November 10, 1998, the group released a holiday album, Home for Christmas. The album peaked at #7 and sold 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 at #8 in February 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.[citation needed] 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 Billboard's Top-100 single chart and served as a stopgap between album releases.

In 1998, 'N Sync had a 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 fifty percent of their earnings, rather than his 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 and the use of the name.[citation needed] NSync, 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]

2000-2001: Groundbreaking success and No Strings Attached

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[7]. 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[18]. The album also broke the Amazon sales records.[19]

Their second single, "It's Gonna Be Me", became the group's first #1 single in US. The third and final single, "This I Promise You" reached the Top-5 on Billboard's Top-100 single chart. The group also embarked on a World No Strings Attached Tour that year. 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 released Live From Madison Square Garden, a home video release of the group's HBO Special.

2001-2002: Celebrity and "Pop"

The group's third album, Celebrity, released on July 24, 2001, holds the record for the second-highest first full week of sales[4]. 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. Over two million fans attended the concerts. A video of the concert was later released on home video, Pop Odyssey Live.

Post-Celebrity

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 was featured on an episode of Seth Green's stop-motion sketch comedy show Robot Chicken in 2005, but only Lance Bass and Joey Fatone voiced their own characters in the episode. The characters of JC Chasez and Chris Kirkpatrick didn't have any speaking roles, and Justin Timberlake was voiced by Breckin Meyer.

Marketing

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.[citation needed]

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[13].

Hiatus

The group went on an extended hiatus in 2002, as each member went their own way.

Justin Timberlake released his solo album Justified on November 5, 2002, which sold more than seven million copies worldwide. Timberlake released his second and number one album, FutureSex/LoveSounds on September 12, 2006, which sold more than 9.2 million copies worldwide. The album went double platinum and featured number-one hits such as SexyBack, My Love and What Goes Around.../...Comes Around. Timberlake may arguably have the most successful post-'N Sync career, selling more than 18 million records alone, and owning various companies including record label, Tennman Records, fashion company, William Rast, and restaurants, Destino and Southern Hospitality. Timberlake has also been in various movies, including Shrek the Third, Alpha Dog, and Love Guru.

JC Chasez proceeded to release Schizophrenic, on February 24, 2004. Chasez also helped co-write songs for a few other artists. Most notably, he has written the song "Treat Me Right" for former rival boy band, the Backstreet Boys, on their 2007 album Unbreakable, and also songs for David Archuleta, Girls Aloud and Basement Jaxx. Recently, Chasez is currently a judge on MTV's Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew.

Chris Kirkpatrick created his clothing business, FuManSkeeto. It has since closed, and Chris 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 was a reality television show named "Mission: Man Band". airing 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. Kirkpatrick appeared on the second season of Gone Country on CMT as well.

Lance Bass went on to become a NASA-certified cosmonaut[21] After months of training in Russia in 2002, Lance could not achieve his goal of going to 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 and for which the group performed two songs for, "Falling" and "That Girl (Will Never Be Mine)". 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. He has a cameo in 2007's I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder. Bass was the 3rd place finisher in the Fall 2008 season of Dancing with the Stars with professional partner Lacey Schwimmer. He is currently managing other artists.

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 as Mark in Rent and played Seymour in Little Shop Of Horrors. He also made a cameo in an episode of Hannah Montana. 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 also starred as a retired baseball player, Joey Vitolo, on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. He also sometimes does the guest voice on Robot Chicken. Recently, Fatone has hosted NBC's The Singing Bee as well TV Guide Networks' Red Carpet for awards shows such as the 2008 Screen Actors Guild awards and the 2008 Academy Awards. Joey has performed in Grease on Broadway, New York, New York.[citation needed]

Future albums

Although there are no plans set for a reunion, 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, where Chasez performed "Until Yesterday", a single from his 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].'"[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." Bass 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 November 16, 2008 although there was no mention of a reunion.[26]

Discography

Main article: 'N Sync discography

Band members

Tours

See also

References

  1. ^ "Celebrity *NSYNC". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  2. ^ Gutierrez, Pedro Ruz. "Pearlman's Money Woes Follow Him Downtown".
  3. ^ "Biography:Lance Bass". Film.com.
  4. ^ a b "The Lycos Daily Report". Lycos. September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  5. ^ Abbott, Jim. "Lance Bass Book Comes Out". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  6. ^ a b "VH1's Driven's 'N Sync Episode Summary". VH1.com. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  7. ^ a b "Artist Biography - *NSYNC)". Billboard.
  8. ^ a b "Suchergebnis (Search)". Charts-surfer.
  9. ^ http://www.starpulse.com/Music/N_Sync/Biography/
  10. ^ "'N SYNC - 'N SYNC (ALBUM)". Swiss Charts.
  11. ^ "'N SYNC - TEARIN' UP MY HEART". GfK Dutch Charts.
  12. ^ "'N SYNC - HERE WE GO". GfK Dutch Charts.
  13. ^ a b c "Gold and platinum". RIAA.
  14. ^ a b c Manning, Kara. "'N Sync Scores Small Victory As Legal Battle Begins". MTV News, November 24, 1999. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  15. ^ Wolk, Josh. (October 13, 1999). "'N Court". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  16. ^ Rolling Stone Dec 29, 1999 N Sync and Trans Con Settle N Sync vs. Trans Con: the music biz's nastiest legal battle of the decade
  17. ^ "Zomba Records, LTD: Company History". FundingUniverse.com. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  18. ^ "Gold and Platinum". RIAA.
  19. ^ [1]
  20. ^ "PC Game Overview: 'N Sync Hotline". Archived from the original on 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2009-06-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "Hairspray Cast Bios - Lance Bass". Hairspray the Musical. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  22. ^ "Lance Bass: I'm Gay". People (magazine). July 26, 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-26. {{cite web}}: Text "People" ignored (help)
  23. ^ Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
  24. ^ (see Love sexy ; A sexy single and Prince-influenced album send ex-'N Sync hottie Justin Timberlake back to No. 1. Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minn.: September 17, 2006. pg. 6)
  25. ^ HOT 99.5 | Washington, DC
  26. ^ <http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/318571/justin-jc-and-carsons-big-high-school-reunion.jhtml#id=1598862">
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