Sad Details About NSYNC

*NSYNC is arguably one of the most iconic acts birthed in the '90s. According to NPR, the boyband dominated the charts at the turn of the millennium, and their loyal fanbase only grew with the success of "No Strings Attached," their sophomore album. Though they were eventually able to carve their own lane, at first, the group faced the pressure of competing with rival boyband Backstreet Boys, who were also managed by *NSYNC's manager, Lou Pearlman. Despite these challenges, however, *NSYNC did incredibly well for themselves. One of the boyband's most impressive accomplishments, the aforementioned "No Strings Attached," made history when 2.4 million copies were sold in its first week of being released, according to Billboard.

Sadly, *NSYNC proved that all good things come to an end when they went their separate ways in 2002. Even with all of the many hardships the boyband faced, the group's former members have shared they were grateful for their teen heartthrob years. *NSYNC alum Justin Timberlake spoke fondly of his time in the group during the boyband's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2018 (per Entertainment Tonight). "These four guys mean so much to me, and we're really a family," Timberlake said of his former bandmates.

The band members likely bonded over the difficult experiences they survived during their time in the group. Keep reading to find out how these sad details about *NSYNC impacted them.

Former *NSYNC member Lance Bass hid his sexuality during his time in the band. He didn't reveal he was gay until 2006, four years after the band split. Bass made the big announcement in an exclusive interview with People. "I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said [that I was gay], it would overpower everything," he told the magazine. The singer went on to share how he felt about finally revealing his secret to the world. "The thing is, I'm not ashamed — that's the one thing I want to say," he said. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy."

Although Bass found happiness after coming out, he had far different feelings about his sexuality during his time in *NSYNC. "It was when I was 19, 20 and everyone started having serious relationships that I really started feeling depression for the first time," Bass revealed in an interview with ET in 2018. "All the guys had girlfriends and we'd get a couple of days off and [they would be with] girlfriends and I was the only one who didn't have anyone. That's when it started getting really scary because I was like, 'I can't keep this ruse up much longer.'"

In 2015, Lance Bass came forward to reveal that he and his fellow *NSYNC bandmates were preyed upon by someone in the music industry. "This happens to men, too," Bass said during an appearance on "The Meredith Vieira Show." "It has happened to me. When I was 16, 17 years old ... there was someone that we worked with that was inappropriately touching us. I was even aware then, at 16, that this guy was a pedophile and he was touching me oddly." The musician went on to share how he and his young bandmates reacted to the harassment at the time. "We would kinda joke about it — but it's not a joking thing," Bass continued. "As a kid, it was odd."

The singer didn't reveal this person's identity, but in a separate interview for "Access Hollywood," he shared that *NSYNC's manager, Lou Pearlman, touched the band members inappropriately. Bass shared that Pearlman told the group he "minored in physical therapy" and knew how to make their muscles appear more prominent in photo shoots. He later provided further clarification on his claims. "No one from *NSYNC was molested that I know of," he revealed on his SiriusXM show, "Dirty Pop with Lance Bass." "So, there was nothing more than inappropriate touching."

It turns out that the *NSYNC members didn't anticipate they would achieve as much success as they did. That fear makes sense when you consider the fact that Lou Pearlman hid the group in the shadows while he focused on the wildly successful Backstreet Boys, as revealed by Lance Bass in the documentary "The Boy Band Con." "With the success of the Backstreet Boys, as *NSYNC, we always felt like the redheaded stepchild," he said in the film. "We couldn't even go into the record label because the employees there didn't know we existed." Bass went on to share that Pearlman hid *NSYNC from the Backstreet Boys so they didn't get upset about having new competition.

Former Backstreet Boys member Kevin Richardson gave some insight on how he and his bandmates reacted to finding out that their management had created a rival pop group. "It was almost like a betrayal," Richardson said in the 2015 documentary "Backstreet Boys: Show Em What You're Made Of." Although there was once tension between the two groups, it seems that this rivalry is a thing of the past. AJ McLean and Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys and Joey Fatone and Lance Bass of *NSYNC teamed up to perform as "Back-Sync" at The Grove in Los Angeles in 2021, per Variety, and that's just one example of the former band members supporting each other in recent years.

It seems that Justin Timberlake's time in *NSYNC may have taken a toll on his vocal cords because the singer has had a number of vocal health issues over the years. In 2005, People reported that Timberlake underwent surgery to remove throat nodules. The musician continued to deal with vocal problems in 2018 and even had to postpone his "The Man of the Woods" tour. He took to Instagram in December 2018 to make the announcement. "Hey Guys, I'm sure you have heard that I've had to postpone several tour dates due to bruised vocal cords," Timberlake penned in the post. "My vocal cords are healing, but they are not all the way back to normal yet, so my doctors want me to continue to rest my voice. They have asked me to hold off on singing until next month."

This wasn't the only time Timberlake had to take a break from his career in order to prioritize vocal rest. In October 2018, he took to Instagram to announce he had to postpone a performance at Madison Square Garden because his vocal cords were bruised. Dr. Steven Zeitels, who has performed vocal surgeries on a number of stars, spoke to Billboard about the severity of Timberlake's injury. "This is not a situation that will solve itself," he told the outlet. "When blood goes to the vocal membranes, they don't vibrate properly."