Almost a decade since the late 90s/early 00s, boy band NSYNC released their third, and final studio album, conversations surrounding their break-up are still ongoing. Before they disbanded, the group had earned 8 Grammy Award nominations, a #1 spot on Billboard Hot 100, and garnered the title as the best boy band by well-respected publications.
The group consisted of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass.
Initially, when the band broke up, it was said to only be “temporary”; however, the group never recorded together after that.
According to one former member, the break-up was a mutual decision amongst the bandmates. During an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music Essential, Timberlake spoke about the publicity surrounding NSYNC’s split at the time.
“When NSYNC broke up, that was big news,” Lowe said.
“Not for us,” Timberlake jokingly responded.
While Timberlake attempted to downplay the extent of the news, Lowe said it was a big issue for the group members.
“At that time, I think everybody had aspirations of doing other things, and we had talked about it,” Timberlake told Lowe. “For me, it was always—I mean, when I was 10 years old, my dream was to have my own record.”
Lowe noted that the disbandment may not have been a big of a deal for Timberlake because he was focused on his solo career.
“You were too busy hanging out either in Miami or wherever Pharrell was,” Lowe charged.
According to a 2018 interview, Timberlake’s bandmates may have felt the same way.
“At that point, everybody had been messing with different things. Chris [Kirkpatrick] was messing with clothing line ideas, Lance [Bass] was working on being an astronaut…Joey [Fatone] was interested in making movies, Justin was interested in having a solo career, and I was interested in being in the studio. All of us were more interested in what was on our minds,” Chasez told The Huffington Post.
