After successfully escaping from Pearlman's contract and signing with Jive Entertainment, *NSYNC happily watched as sales of No Strings Attached topped one million during its first day of release. The album was originally slated to appear in 1999, but a series of legal battles with former manager Lou Pearlman delayed its arrival by several months. Home for Christmas followed later that same year and went double-platinum, while a similar version was released in Europe under the title The Winter Album.Īlthough already celebrated as one of pop music's biggest acts, *NSYNC rose to greater heights with the release of No Strings Attached in 2000. Accompanied by a tour of the nation's roller rinks, it became immensely popular and eventually sold more than ten million copies, thus establishing the singers as teen pop titans. The album was then released in America during the spring of 1998. The album was initially released by BMG Ariola Munich, and *NSYNC soon became an overnight success throughout much of Europe, where the singles "I Want You Back" and "Tearing Up My Heart" became sizable hits. The group recorded its self-titled debut LP with help from a series of producers, including Denniz Pop (whose protégé, Max Martin would later work with the band after Pop's death in 1998). Along with Chasez, the four agreed to form a boy band, and *NSYNC officially launched after the addition of bass singer Lance Bass.
Timberlake soon returned to Orlando, where he befriended Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone. Although the group emerged in 1996 in Orlando, FL, singers JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake had previously co-starred on The Mickey Mouse Club before relocating to Nashville, where they worked on solo projects with the same vocal coach and songwriters. Although the group emerged in 1996Īlong with the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, *NSYNC dominated the teen pop explosion of the late '90s with a blend of group harmonies, gauzy ballads, and well-produced dance textures. “I was like, ‘Man, this track is slamming!” he says.Along with the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, *NSYNC dominated the teen pop explosion of the late '90s with a blend of group harmonies, gauzy ballads, and well-produced dance textures. “’This is going to be the pinnacle.'” So Henson hopped on a flight to Vegas where NSYNC was performing at the Billboard Awards so they could play him “Bye Bye Bye” for the first time. “He was like, ‘No, no, no, you don’t understand you gotta do this song,’” Henson recalls. Henson told Wright he was pursuing acting and no longer choreographing, but Wright wasn’t having it. Henson - whose résumé boasts names such as New Kids on the Block, Britney Spears, and the Spice Girls - was actually on the brink of quitting the industry after losing out on a VMA for his work on Jordan Knight’s “Give It to You” when he got the call from NSYNC manager Johnny Wright.
That unforgettable choreography was the brainchild of acclaimed choreographer (and creator of everyone’s favorite 2001 instructional dance VHS, Darrin’s Dance Grooves), Darrin Henson. “It’s funny how things come back to you so easily, but I guess if you did it, you know, five million times, it’s somewhere in your DNA.” “I feel like I’ve taught that dance to about 50 people this year alone,” says Bass, who remembers actually breaking his ankle while performing the routine on SNL shortly after shooting the video. If you don’t know the signature move to the “Bye Bye Bye” chorus, you’re too young to be reading this piece.