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Justin Timberlake · S3 E2
Five Voices
Chris, Joey, Lance — the puzzle clicks into place
A warehouse in Orlando, late 1995. Five strangers stand in a circle under fluorescent lights, and Chris Kirkpatrick counts them in on a harmony none of them has sung together before.
*NSYNC, God Must Have Spent A Little More Time on You. The ballad that showcased what made this lineup different: five voices covering nearly four octaves, from Lance Bass's bass to Chris Kirkpatrick's countertenor floating above even Justin and JC.
The First Four
Chris Kirkpatrick is 24, a countertenor who has been singing at Universal Studios theme park in Orlando. Joey Fatone is 18, Brooklyn-born but raised in Orlando, also performing at Universal. JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake come from the Mickey Mouse Club. The four of them need a bass voice to complete the stack.
Clinton, Mississippi
The town where Lance Bass grew up, over 600 miles from Orlando. He was singing in a Mississippi show choir when the call came. Within 48 hours, he was in a warehouse rehearsing choreography with four strangers.
“We didn't sound like five guys who just met. We sounded like we'd been doing this for years.”
— Joey Fatone, on *NSYNC's first rehearsal together
TAP TO REVEAL: What gave *NSYNC a vocal range no other boy band could match?
Here We Go
An early *NSYNC track that captures the raw energy of those warehouse rehearsal days. Uptempo, confident, built on the vocal interplay between all five members. You can hear the full range of the lineup here: Lance on the bottom, Chris on top, Justin and JC trading leads in the middle.
What did Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone have in common before *NSYNC?
Five voices are locked in and the harmonies are tight. But the group still doesn't have a name, and Pearlman is already on the phone to Europe.
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