James Lance Bass, Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick, Joshua Scott Chasez, Joseph Anthony Fatone Jr., and Justin Randall Timberlake all make up the incredibly awesome band *N Sync. This is the story of how they all got together.

Chris Kirkpatrick, now 27 years old, once worked at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida in 1995 as a doo-wop singer. It was there that he met Joey Fatone, who is now 22 years old. They soon became good friends.

At the same time, JC Chasez, now 22 years old, and Justin Timberlake, now 18 years old, were also working in Orlando on the Mickey Mouse Club television show. They also became fast friends. Justin also knew Chris from the auditions for the show.

Chris really wanted to put a group together and called Justin who, Chris knew, could sing. Justin got JC to join and soon Joey joined up with them. They were almost ready but they needed a strong bass singer. This is where Lance came into the picture.

Justin called his vocal coach in Memphis, Tennessee hoping that he would be able to recommend someone. He recommended Lance Bass, who is now 19 years old, for the group. Lance got on the next flight for Orlando and, when he got there, immediately hit it off with the group. They sang the Star Spangled Banner together and Lance was accepted into the group.

All that they needed now was a name. They couldn't come up with anything for weeks and finally Justin's mom, Lynn Harless, suggested In Sync by saying how in sync they were. The phrase stuck with them and they decided to use it. Lynn wasn't really sure they were convinced though, so she played around with the boys' initials. She didn't get anything for awhile, but finally came up with something special. She came up with justiN, chriS, joeY, lansteN, and jC, with the last letters of each boy's first name spelling one letter of *N Sync. Now they had the perfect band and name.

They made a video demo. They did everything for the demo themselves. It soon, after a year, caught the eye of Lou Pearlman. He got in touch with Johnny Wright, who is the manager of Snap, Color Me Badd, and the Backstreet Boys. Wright hooked them up with a contract from BMG Records in Germany and they then went to Europe. Soon I Want You Back hit the charts all over Europe and became their first gold record. This was followed by Tearin' Up My Heart. Fans now followed them whereever they went. They also went to South Africa, Mexico, and Asia.

When they went home in 1998, crowds no longer followed them. They considered this a reality check and enjoyed their freedom for a short time. But only for a short time. Their success in Europe repeated in the US soon after their CD came out. Now they are one of the hottest bands of today in the US.