ങ NSYNC, No Strings Attached|I Want U Back|Tearing Up My..|God Must Have Spent..|I Drive Myself Crazy|Music Of My Heart|Bye Bye Bye|It's Gonna Be..|

'N Sync' (often stylized *NSYNC) was an American pop group. The group's launch to fame was financed by the boy band mogul Lou Pearlman. Since 1995, 'N Sync has sold over 56 million records worldwide. Formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995 and launched in Germany in 1996 by BMG Ariola Munich, the group consisted of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick. The name is derived from the last letter of the members names: Justi-N, Chri-S, Joe-Y, Lanste-N (though originally the 'N' came from an original member named Jason before he was replaced by Lance), J-C.

After heavily publicized legal battles with their former manager Lou Pearlman and former record label Sony BMG, the group's 3rd album No Strings Attached sold 1.1 million copies in one day and 2.4 millon copies in one week, giving it the highest first week album sales ever in US and #5 worldwide. In addition to a host of Grammy nominations, 'N Sync has performed at the Academy Awards, the World Series, the Super Bowl and the Olympics, and sang or recorded duets with the likes of Aerosmith, Mary J Blige, Britney Spears, Nelly, Michael Jackson, The Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, and Gloria Estefan. The group also appeared as themselves on The Simpsons, in an episode entitled "New Kids on the Blecch", which aired on February 25, 2001.

After being signed to BMG Ariola Munich, the group was sent to Germany to begin working on their debut album with the help of producers, including Denniz Pop and Max Martin. The album's official lead single, "I Want You Back", was released in Germany on October 7, 1996 and became a top 10 hit in Germany. With a record deal finally secured, the boys began touring first in German speaking countries and later in other European territories. Their self-titled debut album was initially released by BMG Ariola Munich on March 26, 1997 in Germany, peaking at number one in its first week of release, and the group soon became an overnight success throughout much of Europe. The album also charted successfully both in Switzerland and Austria.

The group released their second and third single, "Tearin' Up My Heart" and "Here We Go", both reaching the top ten in Europe. The group captured the attention of Vincent DeGiorgio, an A&R rep for RCA Records. After seeing the group perform in Budapest, they were eventually signed to RCA in 1998. The label had the group record some new tracks to adjust their album for the U.S. market.

'N Sync's 1998 hit, 'Tearin' Up My Heart' was also featured as #30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of The 90's" in 2007, nine years later. On November 10, 1998, the group released a holiday album, Home for Christmas. The album peaked at #7 and sold over 2 million copies. With this, 'N Sync achieved the rare feat of having two albums in the Billboard Top 10 at the same time. The group scored their first top 10 on the Hot 100 with their third single, "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time on You", which peaked at #8 in February 1999. Country group Alabama later re-recorded the song and released it as a single that featured vocals from 'N Sync.

The fourth and final single from the album, "I Drive Myself Crazy", was a modest chart hit, but a mainstay on TRL. In September 1999 the group collaborated with Gloria Estefan on a song for the soundtrack for her movie, Music of the Heart. The track, "Music of My Heart", reached #2 on Billboard's Top-100 single chart and served as a stopgap between album releases.

With their legal woes behind them, 'N Sync refocused and worked on tracks for their second album. In January 2000, the group released "Bye Bye Bye", an upbeat dance track, which shot into the top 5 of the Hot 100 and would spend 5 weeks atop the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song is often considered the group's signature song. They performed at the Latin Grammy show in 2001 singing the Spanish version of their song, This I Promise You, "Yo Te Voy A Amar."

The accompanying album, No Strings Attached, was released on March 21, 2000. It sold a record 2.4 million in its first week of release. An estimated 1.1 million of those sales were attributed to the first day of release, another record. By the end of 2000, it had sold over 9.9 million copies, a record for most albums ever sold in a single year. No Strings Attached is currently the eighth best selling album of the SoundScan era which received a Diamond Certification from RIAA for sales of over 11,099,000. The album also broke the Amazon sales records. Their second single, "It's Gonna Be Me", became the group's first #1 single in US.

The third and final single, "This I Promise You" reached the Top-5 on Billboard's Top-100 single chart. The group also embarked on a World No Strings Attached Tour that year. The group's third album, Celebrity, released on July 24, 2001, holds the record for the second-highest first full week of sales. The album produced three singles: "Pop" (#19 US), "Gone" (#11 US) and "Girlfriend" (#5 US). While 'N Sync announced a "temporary hiatus" in spring 2002, the band has not recorded new material since. The group's official website shut down in summer of 2006, and in 2007, Lance Bass confirmed that the group has "definitely broken up." [wikipedia]