*NSYNC

During the height of their popularity, *NSYNC shaped the era’s upbeat, rhythm-and-blues-tinged turn-of-the-millennium pop while propelling the solo trajectories of vocalists Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez, both veterans of The Mickey Mouse Club. Close work with hitmakers including Max Martin and Denniz Pop brought the quintet swift acclaim, as their self-titled debut album climbed into the upper ranks of American and European charts and yielded the singles “I Want You Back” and “Tearin’ Up My Heart.” The 2000 release No Strings Attached and the 2001 follow-up Celebrity performed even more strongly, each reaching the summit of the Billboard 200. Shortly after the latter album, the band dissolved. Although the members reconvened for a medley at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, they had already scattered into separate pursuits, Timberlake attaining the widest recognition through his Grammy-winning music and acting work. Another decade elapsed before the full lineup reassembled at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards to unveil the new single “Better Place.”

*NSYNC first surfaced in Orlando, Florida, in 1995, yet Chasez and Timberlake had already appeared together on The Mickey Mouse Club and later moved to Nashville to develop individual material under the guidance of the same vocal coach and songwriters. Timberlake soon headed back to Orlando, where he connected with Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone; together with Chasez they decided to form a group, and the addition of bass singer Lance Bass completed the lineup. Their debut album was recorded with several producers, among them Denniz Pop, whose protégé Max Martin continued the partnership after Pop’s death in 1998. BMG Ariola Munich issued the record first, and *NSYNC quickly became a sensation across much of Europe as “I Want You Back” and “Tearing Up My Heart” scored major hits. The album reached American stores in spring 1998; promoted through roller-rink shows nationwide, it ultimately surpassed ten million copies sold and cemented the group’s status as teen-pop superstars. Home for Christmas appeared later that year and earned double-platinum certification, while a comparable edition titled The Winter Album was released in Europe.

Already established among pop’s leading acts, *NSYNC scaled new commercial heights with No Strings Attached in 2000. Originally planned for 1999, the project was postponed by extended litigation against former manager Lou Pearlman; once freed from that agreement and signed to Jive Entertainment, the band watched the album sell more than one million copies on its first day and nearly two-and-a-half million within the opening week. Three singles—“Bye Bye Bye,” widely interpreted as a farewell to the prior management, “It’s Gonna Be Me,” and the ballad “This I Promise You”—all reached the American Top Five. A seventy-six-date U.S. tour grossed over seventy-five million dollars, and by year’s end No Strings Attached had sold nearly ten million copies, making it the year’s biggest-selling album.

Early in 2001 the group returned to the road to promote Celebrity. Issued that summer, the album posted first-week sales approaching two million, the second-highest opening-week total to date after No Strings Attached. Production credits included BT, Darkchild, and the Neptunes, reflecting a deeper engagement with hip-hop and electronic dance sounds, while several tracks were written by Timberlake and Chasez, an experience that may have encouraged their later solo ambitions.

After an extensive stadium tour the five members entered a hiatus in mid-2002. Timberlake issued his solo debut the same year and successfully transitioned into a critically praised solo career; Chasez followed with Schizophrenic in 2004. Fatone pursued film roles and Broadway, Kirkpatrick appeared in the reality series Mission: Man Band, and Bass earned cosmonaut certification in pursuit of spaceflight before shifting into television and radio hosting and LGBTQ+ advocacy.

A Greatest Hits compilation surfaced in 2005, and the official website closed in 2006, fueling fresh questions about the group’s future. In 2007 Bass told the Orlando Sentinel that *NSYNC had “definitely broken up” owing to Timberlake’s focus on solo work. The ensemble briefly reunited at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards to perform “Girlfriend” and “Bye Bye Bye” just before Timberlake received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. In 2019, all members except Timberlake joined Ariana Grande onstage at Coachella for several numbers including “Tearing Up My Heart.” The complete five-person reunion occurred at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, where they presented an award to Taylor Swift and simultaneously released “Better Place,” the first new recording in more than fifteen years and a track featured on the Trolls Band Together soundtrack; Shellback handled production.