The 90s saw boy band hysteria in the US with NSYNC and Backstreet Boys battling it out for supremacy. NSYNC was formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida in 1995, and the boy band was subsequently launched in Germany with the other members Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass.
Although NSYNC released just four albums, ‘N Sync in 1997, Home for Christmas in 1998, No Strings Attached in 2000, and Celebrity in 2001, the boy band had 18 hit singles in total with It’s Gonna Be Me and Bye Bye Bye both topping the Billboard charts in 2000.
When the band split in 2002, it was said that the band members needed a hiatus to pursue solo projects, but each artist went on to enjoy varying levels of solo success.
Success for Timberlake
Justin Timberlake has enjoyed the most success of the former members of the band. He has released five studio albums with four singles topping the US charts: SexyBack, My Love, What Goes Around… Comes Around, and Can’t Stop the Feeling! He also enjoyed a number one hit with Give It to Me, featuring on the Timbaland song with Nelly Furtado.
Timberlake has appeared in 20 movies, including The Social Network in 2010, the romantic comedy Friends with Benefits opposite Mila Kunis in 2011, and the black comedy Inside Llewyn Davis, which was directed by the Coen brothers, in 2013. It was during this period that he married actress, Jessica Biel.
As you would expect, there has been a great deal of NSYNC merchandise, including board games and video games. Other fan items are related to the music and videos of the band, such as the marionette dolls, which pay homage to the music video with It’s Gonna Be Me, where the boys were portrayed as living dolls. The iGaming sector has released several officially branded music slots featuring rock bands such as Guns N’ Roses, so it is no surprise to see NSYNC get in on the act with the NSYNC Pop video slot. The slot game features the five band members along with the song Pop, which was released in 2001, at the highest payout online casino. The immense popularity of the boy band has contributed to the success of this slot title.
JC Chasez also became a solo artist and released the album Schizophrenic in 2004, which peaked at 17 on the US charts, while the singles Some Girls (Dance with Women) and All Day Long I Dream About Sex performed poorly. He was more successful as a songwriter and producer with artists such as Backstreet Boys, Girls Aloud, and South Korean boy band NU’EST. He tried his hand at acting but again remained in the shadow of Timberlake.
Reality show regulars
Chris Kirkpatrick took on a new musical direction after NSYNC split, starting an alternative rock band called Nigel’s 11. Kirkpatrick has also appeared on the reality TV shows Gone Country, Celebrity Family Feud, and Celebrity Big Brother in 2022.
After the split, Joey Fatone appeared in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002 and the sequel My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which was produced by Tom Hanks and released in 2016. He was runner up in season four of Dancing with the Stars. In 2019, he appeared in a rabbit costume in the first season of The Masked Singer.
Lance Bass also took part in Dancing with the Stars, achieving third place in Season 7, and has made cameo appearances in a series of movies, including Zoolander, Tropic Thunder, and Mississippi I Am. In 2002, Bass underwent astronaut training, but his plans to travel to space ultimately did not come to fruition.
In 2019, the band, minus Timberlake, joined Ariana Grande on stage at Coachella to perform their hit Tearin’ Up My Heart and presented a version of Grande’s hit Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.
In 2021, Fatone and Bass teamed up with AJ McLean and Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys to form the hybrid boy band Back-Sync for the Los Angeles Pride event, Bingo Under the Stars. While in April 2022, three members of NSYNC, Bass, Fatone, and Kirkpatrick had a mini-reunion when they performed Bye Bye Bye at the wedding of musician Ryan Cabrera.
These mini-reunions and hybrids have given fans hope that the NYSNC story is far from over. Timberlake said that he would never say never when asked about a reunion, so there is still a chance we will see the full band onstage again in the future.
Although NSYNC released just four albums in four years, these records yielded several hits which remain classics of the boy band genre. While Justin Timberlake has achieved the highest level of success, the other ex-members, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass, have all remained in the music and entertainment business.
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