They May Be Singing "Bye, Bye, Bye" To Stadiums Full
Of Screaming Fans, But 'N Sync Are Here To Stay
By: Jason Cohen
"Looking cute, sugar!" 'N Sync's Chris Kirkpatrick
whoops. "Does your momma let you walk around like
that? Looking ghetto fabulous!"
Kirkpatrick's you-go-girl routine is directed at Lance
Bass, who's livening up some pre-photo shoot downtime
by strutting around in bad-boy threads: first a pair
of spangled ripped, derriere-revealing denims, then a
cowboy hat and brown chaps ensemble that's part
"Midnight Cowboy" and part Calvin Klein ad.
"You should just wear the chaps," says Joey Fatone,
leaning his head back so a stylist can remove the
stubble that's sprouted up around his trademark
goatee. "They may say we're clean-cut boys," Fatone
says, smirking, "but not clean-shaven."
And not always pure of mind, either: One chair over
from Fatone, Justin Timberlake may or may not be
enjoying his red leather trousers, which are a lesson
in style over comfort. "These pants are so tight," the
curly-haired heartthrob cracks, "it's like I'm having
sex with myself."
Yes, the guys of 'N Sync are definitely fun to be
around_even when they should be dog-tired. After all,
the Orlando-based singing group_Timberlake, 19; Bass,
21; Fatone, 23; JC Chasez, 24, and Kirkpatrick, 28_is
at the tail end of a 52-city North American tour. Last
night they performed before a 40,000-plus audience at
Foxboro Stadium outside Boston, and in just a few
hours, they're going to do it all over again. More
than one million people have caught the show, putting
an exclamation point on a run of success that began in
March when No Strings Attached, 'N Sync's second CD,
smashed records for both first-day (approximately one
million) and first-week (2.4 million) sales. Six
months ago, 'N Sync were merely stars; now they can
lay claim to the title of biggest pop group in the
country.
Success, of course, breeds activity. This fall the
band will continue its North American tour, release an
IMAX concert film and start work on a new record, with
all five members taking a more active part in
songwriting and producing.
'N Sync is also working on a movie, but before any
critics start digging up their reviews of "Spiceworld"
for possible recycling, consider this: The band will
not be playing themselves, and the film won't
necessarily feature any music. "We're actually going
to make a real movie," Bass says. "We want to
challenge ourselves to do something different."
Somewhere in there the boys are due to get a week's
vacation, too. But first comes the 2000 MTV Video
Music Awards. 'N Sync got six nominations, including
Best Video of the Year and Viewer's Choice for their
"Bye, Bye, Bye" video. They will also perform on the
show, which means the pressure is on to top last
year's appearance with Britney Spears.
"It was definitely fun performing with Britney," says
Timberlake, who is reportedly dating Spears. "I'd do
it again."
As in Oops!...I'd Do It Again? Don't get your hopes
up. "I wouldn't expect Britney to turn up again," Bass
says. "But maybe Eminem_you never know."
Ah, yes. Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady"_which includes
'N Sync among the many, many things that annoy him_has
also been nominated for six awards. Still, all the
members of 'N Sync are huge Eminem fans. "Love him,"
Timberlake says. "He's a supertalented artist."
While Eminem would like to think that he and 'N Sync
are operating in different cultural worlds, the truth
is that they're hitting much the same audience.
"That's the cool thing about music right now," Chasez
says. "People are a lot more open-minded. People are
listening to rap, rock_it's just not trends anymore.
Hopefully, that makes way for a longer career for us."
Tom Calderone, MTV's senior vice president of music
programming and talent, thinks 'N Sync's longevity "is
going to be attained by how relevant they stay with
their fan base. Right now, they can do no wrong."
Maybe not, but should No Strings Attached end up
selling 10, 12 or even 14 million records,
statistically speaking, there's nowhere to go but
down. "At this point in our career," says Timberlake,
"we just want to evolve with our core audience. That's
what the Stones did. That's what a lot of legends do."
The 19-year-old pauses, perhaps imagining himself at
Mick Jagger's age. "By then," he says, "we probably
won't be dancing as much."
