In 1995, Pennsylvania native Chris Kirkpatrick was living in Orlando, Florida, and working at Universal Studios as a doo- wop singer. It was there that he met and became friends with Brooklyn-born Joey Fatone. Meanwhile, JC Chasez, a native from Washington, D.C., and Memphis boy Justin Timberlake had just wrapped a stint together on The Mickey Mouse Club, also in Orlando. Justin knew Chris from auditions, and JC was friendly with Joey whose high-school buddies had also been on The Mickey Mouse Club.

Chris wanted to put a group together ---- a group who could take five-part harmonies and make it into pop music with an R&B twist. He contacted Justin, who he knew could sing. Justin then called old MMC pal, JC. Chris, Justin, and JC met Joey at a club and Joey became the fourth member.

The foursome was ready to make a go of it, but they lacked something important. Although Chris, Justin, JC, and Joey had a wide range of vocals, not one of them felt he had a solid enough bass.

Justin calls up his old vocal coach back home in Memphis, hoping the coach could recommend someone. That’s where James “Lansten” Lance Bass, a good-natured country boy from Clinton, Mississippi, comes in. Lance caught the next flight to Orlando and met with Chris, Justin, JC, and Joey. Immediately, he hits it off with the guys. Chris, Justin, JC, and Joey, knew they had found their final member.

Now all they needed was a name. They brainstormed for weeks, but nothing seemed right; nothing seemed to fit these five fab fellows and their unique sound. One day, Justin’s mom remarked how “in sync” their harmonies and dancing were. The phrase stuck with the guys. “In Sync” had a nice ring to it.

However, Justin’s mom wasn’t sure the guys were convinced. So back to the drawing board she went. She started playing around with their initials, but got nothing out of the initials from their first and last names. Then she started shifting around with the last letters of their first names. She toyed with the letters and after a while, she came up with JustiN, ChriS, JoeY, LansteN, and JC. These guys were completely ‘N SYNC. The name ‘N SYNC perfectly summed up everything about the group. Five guys with five diverse backgrounds, from five different parts of the United States, with various musical influences, somehow managed to make a sound that worked, a sound that was in synch.

Credit:'N SYNC: The Official Book