NSYNC
NSYNC (/ɛnˈsɪŋk, ɪn-/ en-SINK, in-; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync)[1] is an American vocal group and boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995[2][3] and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich.[4] The group consists of Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, and JC Chasez. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European countries in 1997, and later debuted in the U.S. market with the single "I Want You Back".
For their self-titled album, see NSYNC (album).
NSYNC
After heavily publicized legal battles with their former manager Lou Pearlman and former record label Bertelsmann Music Group, the group's second album, No Strings Attached (2000), sold over one million copies in one day and 2.4 million copies in one week, which was a record for over fifteen years.[5][6] NSYNC's first two studio albums were both certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Celebrity (2001) debuted with 1.8 million copies in its first week in the US. Singles such as "Girlfriend", "Pop", "Gone" and "It's Gonna Be Me" reached the top 10 in several international charts, with the last being a US Billboard Hot 100 number one.
In addition to eight Grammy Award nominations, NSYNC performed at the Super Bowl and sang the national anthem at the Olympic Games and World Series. They have also sang or recorded with Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Phil Collins, Celine Dion, Aerosmith, Nelly, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Mary J. Blige, country music band Alabama, and Gloria Estefan. NSYNC went on a hiatus in 2002 and reunited in 2023 to release the single "Better Place" for the DreamWorks animated film Trolls Band Together (2023).
Over the course of their hiatus, the five members reunited occasionally, including at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards and to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018. The band completed five nationwide concert tours and has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.[7][8] Rolling Stone recognized their instant success as one of the Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments of all time.[9]
Artistry[edit]
Their debut studio album 'N Sync (1997) featured four-on-the-floor Europop beats with midtempo singles "I Want You Back" and "Tearin' Up My Heart", that recalled a production similar to Ace of Base.[89][90] No Strings Attached (2000) was noted as "an incremental step away" from teen pop's "softer side", as it featured ballads written by 80s adult contemporary singer Richard Marx and prolific songwriter Diane Warren. Primarily a pop album, it comprised a blend of new jack swing revivalism, uptempo R&B and hip-hop influences. Lyrically, the lead single "Bye Bye Bye"'s kiss-off message and self-assurance saw the group departing from the "lovesick" formula of their debut.[89][90] Celebrity (2001) was mainly a pop/R&B record with electronica elements.[91]
Legacy[edit]
Entertainment Weekly ranked NSYNC as the best boy band of the 1990s and 2000s; editor Madelne Boardman stated, "the group has a spot in pop history more than a decade late."[98] The Washington Post stated it was one of the two boy bands "that dominated the late '90s and early '00s."[99] According to Billboard, No Strings Attached was the top album of the 2000s (decade),[100] with The Independent listing it among the albums "that marked the decade."[101] Billboard also ranked the group at number four on their list of the biggest boy bands (from the period 1987–2012) according to chart performance, with the staff writing, "despite having one of the most short-lived boy band careers, 'N Sync was arguably the most famous."[102]
In a retrospective article for No Strings Attached's 20th anniversary, NPR's writer Maria Sherman said the album marked "the sound of a new millennium" and an "industry peak" commercially, while describing the group as "one of the last artists to benefit so greatly from the industry bubble before its spectacular burst," referring to the following post-9/11 era.[89] Sherman also noted their sophomore album to be relevant to the pop market of 2020: "a union of Swedish pop songcraft with R&B and hip-hop's flow and bounce; an eagerness to explore mature themes and styles; an understanding that dance and visual presentation can turn stars into icons."[89] Billboard stated that their sophomore album's production and writing "represented a sonic shift for all of pop music at the turn of the millennium," while noting, "before No Strings Attached, none of the major teen pop albums of the era had featured guest rappers or name producers from the R&B world, and virtually every one that came after did."[90] Writer Al Shipley commented that although NSYNC was not the first act to build an album "around the theme of taking control of their career",[90] the group took this theme a step further with the No Strings Attached cover art and the "Bye Bye Bye" music video.[90] Shipley further stated the album's pop, hip hop, and R&B elements helped NSYNC "climb to the top of the boy band heap."[90]
A Stereogum article noted the group "were deeply ingrained within the TRL universe", the MTV fan-voted video countdown where they had the most number-one videos for a group and second-most overall, which became "ground zero" for "America's adolescent culture war."[103] The website's editor commented, "to be a teenager at the turn of the millennium was to be inundated with boy bands and pop princesses, and *NSYNC were among the most dominant of them all."[103] As NSYNC propelled the solo stardom of Timberlake, Consequence noted, "[his] solo success is the exception, not the rule", as other contemporary boy bands "failed to produce a solo star."[104] Several acts have cited the group as an influence, including Kelsea Ballerini,[105] Selena Gomez,[106] Meghan Trainor,[107] and Why Don't We.[108] Hayley Williams stated she learned harmonies through listening to the group in her teenage years.[109] Taylor Swift called the band "pop personified" upon accepting the Best Pop Award from the group at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards.[110]
Headlining
As supporting act