*Nsync

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*NSYNC

Formed: 1995, Orlando, Florida

Members: James Lance Bass, vocals (born Clinton, Mississippi, 4 May 1979); Joshua Scott Chasez, vocals (born Washington, D.C., 8 August 1976); Joseph Anthony Fatone, vocals (born Brooklyn, New York, 28 January 1977); Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick, vocals (born Clarion, Pennsylvania, 17 October 1971); Justin Randall Timberlake (born Memphis, Tennessee, 31 January 1981).

Genre: Rock, Pop

Best-selling album since 1990: No Strings Attached (2000)

Hit songs since 1990: "I Want You Back," "Bye, Bye, Bye," "Pop"

One of the most successful pop groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s, *NSYNC built a large, devoted audience by performing R&B-based vocal music. With the help of MTV, especially the show Total Request Live, *NSYNC launched their music and faces into the world's living rooms. *NSYNC albums contain a mixture of upbeat dance numbers and ballads; singles representing both styles have held positions at the top of the charts. Their songs combine the group's distinctive mixture of plaintive solo singing, close harmonies, and, especially on later albums, intricate pop production. *NSYNC's good looks and flashy presentation appeal to their core audience, whose public face consists largely of preteen and teenage girls.

Prior to the formation of *NSYNC in 1995, Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez worked together as cast members of the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club, which was filmed in Orlando, Florida. After a brief relocation to Nashville, the two returned to Orlando, where they met Chris Kirkpatrick, who was singing in a doo-wop group at Universal Studios along with Joey Fatone. The idea to form a group was Kirkpatrick's; with the addition of Fatone, they began to perform in clubs throughout Orlando. Still missing a bass singer, they located Mississippian Lance Bass with the help of Timberlake's vocal coach, and the group was complete. According to *NSYNC lore, their name originated with Timberlake's mother, who (with the use of Bass's nickname Lansten) formed "*NSYNC" with the last letter of each member's first name. True or not, the name describes their musical aesthetic well.

The Early Days: Big in Germany

In 1996 the group caught the eye of the impresario Louis J. Pearlman, known as the man behind the creation of the 1980s boy band New Kids on the Block. At the time Pearlman was also handling the Backstreet Boys, the first hugely popular American boy band of the late 1990s. Pearlman orchestrated *NSYNC's early successes. He signed *NSYNC to RCA records and released the band's first single in Germany; the Backstreet Boys had already found popularity in Europe. In 1997 *NSYNC had their first European hit with the dance number "I Want You Back." The song, which begins, "You're all I ever wanted / You're all I ever needed / So tell me what to do now / 'Cause I want you back," established one of *NSYNC's most popular lyrical themes: boy had girl, boy lost girl, boy begs girl to come back. *NSYNC followed the success of "I Want You Back" with a smash European tour. In 1998, after the Backstreet Boys hit it big in the United States, *NSYNC released their first album, *NSYNC, in America.

"Alternative" rock—made popular in the early 1990s by bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam—faded in the late 1990s. At the same time the popularity of the Backstreet Boys and British girl group the Spice Girls shifted listeners' attention to pop music. *NSYNC's success demonstrated that the market could sustain more than one boy band. While the arrangements on *NSYNC lack the quirkiness of later releases, this early album established their appeal to a large, youthful fan base with plenty of disposable income. In addition, their ballads, including "(God Must Have Spent) a Little More Time on You," found a receptive audience on Adult Contemporary radio stations. *NSYNC's group harmonization owes much to the virtuosic style established by the popular African-American boy group Boyz II Men. This style favors ornamented, polished singing over the raw edges of rock. On *NSYNC the group adds elements imported from European dance music, such as the techno beat on "I Need Love." Later albums use dance beats derived more from hip-hop.

The popularity of *NSYNC has always been based in a loyal audience of teenage girls. To that end *NSYNC carefully projects a slightly androgynous, nonthreatening sexual appeal, and their songs are more romantic than sexual, more suggestive than explicit. Through prudent marketing, the individual personalities of *NSYNC members balance their playful group image. This allows fans to position themselves both as part of something larger than themselves (*NSYNC fans) and as individuals with unique interests (by becoming a "Justin fan" or "Lance fan"). However, the success of *NSYNC depends as much on their musical choices as their icon status.

In 1999 following the quick release of a Christmas album, *NSYNC initiated a lawsuit against Pearlman's Trans Continental Management in order to extricate themselves from their contract. While *NSYNC framed this lawsuit in terms of artistic freedom, many in the industry labeled the band greedy. They weathered these accusations, settled out of court, and signed to Jive Records, the home of Britney Spears and, again, the Backstreet Boys. In the process the group kept their manager from Trans Continental, Johnny Wright. *NSYNC's next release was titled No Strings Attached (2000), a jab at their legal difficulties: The cover depicts the five members as life-sized puppets, strings and all. At the time of its release, No Strings Attached set the record for most albums sold in the first week of release—2.4 million, a figure that topped the Backstreet Boys' sophomore effort, Millennium (1999).

Spot Light: Celebrity

In the creation of Celebrity (2001), especially the single "Pop" and the title track, *NSYNC followed the adage to write what you know. Not the first meditation on the problem of being fabulously famous, Celebrity nevertheless manages to sound fresh without departing from the formula the band established on previous albums. It successfully continues *NSYNC's willingness to experiment with pop production while exploring a juxtaposition of aural imperfections, such as feedback and high-end pop production, that depart from their previous releases. In a mark of their increased artistic control, JC Chasez or Justin Timberlake share writing credits on all but three tracks. Timberlake also takes production credits on several songs, including the first single, "Pop." When "Pop" hit the airwaves in 2001, it sounded like nothing else on pop radio. "Pop" pays homage to Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982) and uses stylized hip-hop production techniques. Written by Timberlake and Wade J. Robson, the song is simultaneously a tribute to pop music ("Feel it when your body starts to rock / Baby you can't stop / And the music's all you got / This must be pop") and a declaration of the band's musical freedom. "Pop" upends expectations of what a boy band could and should sound like, especially at the point halfway through where it breaks into a mostly instrumental jam. This instrumental section, heavy on sampled guitars and beat box (also performed by Timberlake), introduces the new sounds found throughout Celebrity.

Musically, No Strings Attached represents a significant step forward for the group, although many of the producers and songwriters from their first albums remained on board. Group harmonization appears with a greater frequency on the upbeat numbers, as in the opening of the first track (and single), "Bye Bye Bye." The solos—sung by the tenors Timberlake and Chasez—depend less on reverb. By removing this echolike effect, the voices stand out rather than blend into the background. No Strings Attached perfects their pop formula with its careful mixture of wistful love ballads, novelty tracks, and party songs.

International Success at the Turn of the Century

Throughout 2000 and 2001 it seemed that at least one member of *NSYNC appeared weekly on MTV's popular show Total Request Live, each time accompanied by thousands of screaming fans on the streets below the studio in which the show is filmed. Their takeover of MTV was facilitated by a series of creative videos for the singles from No Strings Attached. The video for "Bye Bye Bye" continues the puppet theme from the cover of the album and features the band members dancing and singing while suspended on strings. By bringing the voices of *NSYNC into their viewer's homes on an hourly basis, MTV played a substantial role in cementing the group's position at the center of American popular culture.

Although *NSYNC's music has evolved over the course of their four full-length albums, many variables have stayed the same. For example, romantic ballads remain prominent on each album, and many of them have placed on both Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts. These songs feature full, soothing harmonies that engulf the listener, juxtaposed with solo singing that personalizes the song. The lyrics allow the younger listener to imagine herself within the life of a man, while the soothing harmonies assuage their fear of adult relationships. In "This I Promise You," written by the 1980s pop star Richard Marx, Timberlake's solo manages to convey both vulnerability and compassion through a combination of almost-straining high notes and his voice's rich texture. The upbeat dance numbers often share the ballads' lyrical themes, especially romantic vulnerability and yearning for true love.

*NSYNC strives to outdo other pop groups in every way, especially in album and ticket sales. Their live shows offer an assortment of spectacles not unlike Disney-produced Broadway shows such as The Lion King. In the course of differentiating themselves from other boy bands, *NSYNC has repeatedly emphasized their creative input on albums. Indeed, both Chasez and Timberlake contributed songs to No Strings Attached and Celebrity (2001). Fans often defend their preference for *NSYNC in terms of the band's seeming authenticity and superior artistic merit when compared to other boy bands. Several tracks on their 2001 release, Celebrity, confront the terms of *NSYNC's fame directly. Celebrity sold well but did not break sales records, as No Strings Attached did. Many found its lyrics about the problems of fame self-indulgent, but the album also includes several fun, adventurous tracks. Following the release of Celebrity and the supporting tour, *NSYNC went on hiatus while the band members explored solo projects and acting careers.

*NSYNC positioned itself at the center of pop music trends at the tail end of the twentieth century. By incorporating sounds from a variety of musical genres, they forged a sound already familiar yet always new. This combination, along with the flair of their presentation style, makes them popular with preteens, teenagers, and adults alike.