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Justin Timberlake · S2 E8
The Phone Call
Justin calls JC Chasez. 'I have an idea.'
1995, a kitchen in Memphis. Justin Timberlake is fourteen years old, picks up the phone, dials JC Chasez in Maryland, and says: five guys, real harmonies, R&B, no Disney.
*NSYNC performing live at Clinton High School, Mississippi, December 1995. Lance Bass's own school, six months after the phone call from Memphis. No record deal, no stadiums, just five guys performing between sets at a high school choir concert.
The Pitch
Justin's vision is specific. Two years of watching JC command a stage, two years absorbing the vocal architecture of Boyz II Men and Jodeci, and the Backstreet Boys are already emerging from Orlando. Justin understands there is room for another group doing this better. The plan: recruit JC first, find three more voices, get back to Orlando, build it yourself.
“We didn't know anything about anything, but we knew we could sing together.”
— Justin Timberlake on forming *NSYNC (Oprah's Master Class, 2014)
The Other Three
Chris Kirkpatrick, 24, from Clarion, Pennsylvania, performing at Universal Studios Florida with a distinctive tenor that cuts through any arrangement. Joey Fatone, 18, from Brooklyn, also at Universal, a powerful bass-baritone who grew up idolizing Michael Jackson. Lance Bass, 16, from Clinton, Mississippi, recruited last on Justin's personal recommendation when the group needs a low bass voice.
TAP TO REVEAL: How did Lance Bass join *NSYNC with only 48 hours' notice?
Back to Orlando
Justin left Orlando at thirteen. He comes back at fourteen to build something of his own.
How was the name *NSYNC created?
I Want You Back
This is what the phone call produced. *NSYNC's debut single, recorded in Orlando, released first in Germany. Five voices locked together exactly the way Justin described on that call from Memphis. Less than a year from kitchen phone to studio recording.
Five voices, one name, zero record deal. Pearlman has a plan, and the plan involves Germany: shopping malls, cheap hotels, and thirty people in the audience.
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