NSYNC band members Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick have detailed Justin Timberlake’s transition to a solo career – and they’re less than pleased.
The singers recall exactly what happened, as well as the moment they realized the band might not get back together anytime soon.
In the Paramount+ documentary, ‘Larger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands’, Bass and Kirkpatrick gave fans insight into their emotional breakup after the Celebrity Tour in 2002 – the first they finally appeared on stage as a team.
“2002 was our last tour. Justin was about to start a solo album, which we were very supportive of. I thought it was a great idea,” Bass, 45, recalled.
“The label told us, ‘Look, come back in six months,’ and we were supposed to start working on the next album right away. And that never happened,” he said more. It seems Timberlake, 43, was in a bit of a bind after the success of his debut album ‘Justified’, which featured fan favorites including “Cry Me a River” (2002) and ” Rock Your Body” (2003).
Bass said that NSYNC gradually “dropped out without any fanfare, without a goodbye. We never got back together.”
Kirkpatrick added: “It was difficult. There was a lot of hostility at first. There was a lot of anger, a lot of resentment. I remember thinking, ‘Will we ever get back together again? ‘”
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That being said, it seems like their manager at the time, Johnny Wright, had a little more understanding of this heartbreaking situation, acknowledging the importance of the opportunity Timberlake had.
“From Justin’s perspective, when he has a No. 1 album in the country and he gets offers to tour around the world, how do you go back to that?” Wright asks in the documentary. “‘I have to finish this. It’s not like I’m saying goodbye, I just can’t stop this,'” he said of Timberlake.
The band members seemed to understand this point of view, however, they admitted that things could have been handled differently. “In terms of business, I understand it,” Bass said. Justin is the most talented person in the world and we want to give him that respect.” “But, please tell us that.”
The boy band, who have been nominated for eight Grammy Awards, have performed at the Super Bowl, sung the national anthem at the Olympic Games and World Series, and completed five national tours. With over 70 million records sold, they became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
You can watch the Paramount+ documentary, ‘Larger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands’ here.
— Originally published on Enstarz
Tags Justin Timberlake, Nsync