Back in the '90s, *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys were the cool boy bands to listen to, and fans loved the relationship between Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Fans wondered if cheating was involved when the pair broke up, but by the early 200o's, Timberlake had embarked on a successful solo music career.
Many of the *NSYNC members are fathers now and while it's true that JT is still in the limelight, people don't hear from the others that frequently.
The band was so popular and had such a large fanbase that it was impossible to imagine them ever breaking up. But that's exactly what happened. Let's take a look.
Jt's Solo Career
People look back at *NSYNC super fondly today, and there are a lot of reasons why the nostalgia for this boy band is so high. For one thing, fans remember the retro hairstyles that the band members had.
Besides hit singles like "Bye, Bye, Bye" and the great dance moves of the band, fans also think about one thing: why did the band decide to go their separate ways?
It definitely seems like *NSYNC broke up because Justin Timberlake wanted to have a solo career.
As Joey Fatone explained, it seemed like the group would continue making music together, but that's not what happened. He said, according to The Huffington Post, "We thought we were getting back together. It was, ’OK, after [Justin] does his thing, blah, blah, blah, we’ll get back together and move forward and do what we got to do. And then it was like, nope. The record company wanted to push Justin, I guess, is what it was. He got bigger and bigger, which is honestly great for him and I’m totally happy for him in that sense, but it was more or less weird that there wasn’t an explanation to say we’re not going to do it, period."
It sounds like this was a tough situation, as Justin Timberlake released his album Justified and said in a November 2002 interview with The New York Post, "There’s no reason my solo career and *NSYNC can’t coexist in the same universe. *NSYNC is in no danger."
According to The Huffington Post, Chris Kirkpatrick said “I don’t know if I was ready for it to end" because when faced with an empty calendar after so many years of touring and making music with the band, he wasn't sure where his life would take him.
Lance Bass explained that the band agreed to take six months off and then get back together.
JT's Side Of The Story
Justin Timberlake told The Hollywood Reporter that he felt it was natural that *NSYNC broke up. He said he "cared more about the music than some of the other people in the group" and was "growing out of it." He also said, "I felt like I had other music I wanted to make and that I needed to follow my heart," according to Bustle.
In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music Essentials, Timberlake said "At that time, everyone had aspirations of doing other things, and we had talked about it," according to Bustle.
It's interesting to hear Justin Timberlake say that the break-up was always going to happen when the other band members say they were surprised.
Lance Bass
According to Entertainment Tonight, Alex Greggs, who knew JC Chasez as they lived together, said that Lance Bass wanted to go to space and that got the other boy band members imagining what they could do outside of the group.
Greggs said, "not once had JC or Justin ever asked me about doing other songs. There was never any hint of [solo music] until Lance came into the room and said, ‘I’m going into space, so we’ll need a year off.’ I’m sure it was on Justin’s and JC’s minds though because as soon as Lance said it, that night, they were like, ‘I have some ideas I’d love to put on tape.’”
When Lance Bass wrote his 2007 book, Out Of Sync, he said Timberlake “didn’t think any of us was operating in the best interest of the band.” He talked to Timberlake about it, who said that because Bass and Joey Fatone started acting, that proved that everyone wanted to pursue their own projects. Timberlake said, "Well, you know, when y’all did your movie..." Bass says he was surprised by that response.
People might remember that Lance Bass was interested in going to space. According to Business Insider, he trained after getting his Russian Space Program and NASA certifications, and he wanted to go on the 2002 Russian mission to ISS, or the International Space Station. Billboard reported that Bass couldn't pay the $20 million fee so he didn't end up going.
It definitely sounds like Justin Timberlake was interested in crafting a solo music career, and the other boy band members might not have been so quick to leave the band.