news archives

July 31, 2001 - BT tells Launch.com that the focus should be on the quality of Celebrity and not sales. BT says, "I just think that no matter what happens, it's an absolute creative home run." Read more.

July 31, 2001 - Access Hollywood's Pat O'Brien injured his hand at Challenge for the Children last weekend.

July 31, 2001 - WireImage.com has a gigantic gallery of photos from the 3rd annual Challenge for the Children basketball charity event with *NSYNC and Britney Spears, amongst others. Check the photos out here. Also, check out photos from the event's after party here.

July 31, 2001 - Entertainment Tonight previewed Justin Timberlake's stint on The Brady Show.

July 31, 2001 - Justin Timberlake tells MTV that the economy is to blame for *NSYNC's inability to break No Strings Attached sales record. Justin says, "People probably don't think we think about this kind of stuff, but if you really wanna get technical about it, the whole country, the economy, is down 15 percent." Read more.

July 31, 2001 - Dees Sleaze has a interview Monday with Jeannie, who spent the weekend with *NSYNC. Jeannie says Britney was a very good basketball player and that Justin was an 'amazing basketball player.' Check out her story here.

July 30, 2001 - AP profiled the frequency pop stars are pumping out music with Alan Light, editor of Spin magazine admitting, "The 'N Syncs of the world ... they know the clock is running. You can't be a boy band forever, so you've gotta go for everything that you're able to get for that time." Read more.

July 30, 2001 - *NSYNC was featured on CNN where they talked about the group's popularity and new album.

July 30, 2001 - Variety's Phil Gallo summed up his thoughts on the *NSYNC PopOdyssey tour saying, "In short, PopOdyssey is one long encouragement to spend, spend, spend." Read more.

July 29, 2001 - Pagesix.com reports Britney, *NSYNC, and other artists performing with Michael Jackson at Madison Square Garden in September are being asked to pay at least $10,000 to a charity Jacko hasn’t even chosen yet. Read more.

July 28, 2001 - A national survey of teenagers released Friday found that Freddy Prinze Jr. and Britney Spears top the charts when it comes to rating which celebrities have the 'best smile.' Also in the running on the guy's side, Josh Harnett, Heath Ledger, and Chris Klein; singers Justin Timberlake, Sisqo. On the gal's side, Christina Aguilera, Brandy, Beyonce Knowles, and Mandy Moore, Tara Reid and Sarah Michelle Gellar trailed Britney. Britesmile conducted the survey as they've recently begun offering 1 hour light-activated tooth whitening procedures to teens. For more information on the company that is also ironically my largest stock holding (NASDAQ: BSML), check Britesmile.com.

July 28, 2001 - In an abstracts.net poll asking if you thought of *NSYNC's new sound in Pop, 87.3% said they loved it, while 9.4% said it was ok, and 3.2% said they disliked the sound, with 2346 total votes cast.

July 28, 2001 - The Star reports Britney Spears appears to be packing on pounds recently and insiders say she's "eating her heart out." The same insiders say her relationship with Justin is on the outs as well.

July 28, 2001 - I received word that the New York Daily News will do an article on Will's allegations of using drugs with members of *NSYNC in the Sunday edition of Daily Dish. Not certain though if it will focus on Will's loose lips regarding his celebrity encounters or specifically on *NSYNC... we'll find out soon though.

July 27, 2001 - Shocking allegations from Big Brother 2's Will as late Tuesday night, he admitted to smoking pot with Chris Kirkpatrick before a show where he gave the guys flu shots and at Joey Fatone's house on another occasion. Will also said JC was apparently "too interested in what he had to say" and called Justin a "goody goody" with his mother always around. CBS cut the web feed before more details were divulged.

July 27, 2001 -  Geoff Mayfield, the charts guru at Billboard magazine tells the New York Post that Celebrity "won't be what the last one was, but it has a shot at 2 million, or it will be close to that." Read more.

July 27, 2001 - Justin Timberlake talked to Rolling Stone about doing a duet with Britney saying, "I want it to be something new that they haven't heard us do, that they didn't think we could do," he tells the magazine. It definitely would be a spectacle - it would be huge."

July 27, 2001 - More details on Celebrity from MTV.com as they report Bob Bell, pop/rock music buyer for the Wherehouse Music chain revealing, "Based on what I'm seeing so far, I'm projecting 2 million in sales nationwide." Read more.

July 26, 2001 - HitsDailyDouble.com reports early reports from leading accounts indicate that NSYNC’s Celebrity is on track to sell in the 1.8 to 2 million range, making it the 2nd highest first week selling album in history, behind only the group's previous effort. Read more (requires signup/use fake email).

July 26, 2001 - A staffer at Virgin's downtown Vancouver store reports sales of Celebrity aren't quite matching the performance of No Strings Attached but said, "It is still very important music for us." Read more.

July 25, 2001 - Foxnews.com reports on troubles that Lou Pearlman  is having at his company, Trans Continental Entertainment. Read  more.

July 25, 2001 - *NSYNC were on Access Hollywood Tuesday where they were in the studio talking to Nancy Odell.

July 25, 2001 - Thanks PandaBear. Entertainment Weekly reviewed the Celebrity CD track by track.

July 25, 2001 - *NSYNC were on Entertainment Tonight Tuesday where they were on hand for the premiere party.

July 25, 2001 - Launch.com reports comments from *NSYNC as celebrity hits store shelves with Lance admitting, "I think the cool thing about us is, we as best friends will go on to do a lot of things together. I think *NSYNC will be around really forever." Read more.

July 25, 2001 - BT praised *NSYNC telling Sonicnet, "What's so refreshing about these guys is that they don't take themselves too seriously. You get more attitude from a guy working behind the counter at Starbucks than you do from these guys. They're just regular people." Read more.

July 25, 2001 - WireImage.com has several photos of *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and many others from the record release party for *NSYNC's Celebrity in West Hollywood on Monday. Check them out here.

July 24, 2001 - *NSYNC appeared on the Tonight Show last night and performed Pop.

July 24, 2001 - The New York Daily News reports Justin Timberlake  said of girlfriend Britney Spears, "Outside of my mother, I've  never been so impressed by how big [someone's] heart is. I see  the side of her that others don't see. To be picked on as much as  she is...I see her get hurt by what's said, and she still goes  out there without really thinking about it."

July 24, 2001 - *NSYNC were on ET Monday from the set of their Rolling Stone cover shoot.

July 24, 2001 - Justin Timberlake wrote a special message to  Britney "Pinky" Spears on the Celebrity album sleeve stating,  "Pinky - I love you more and more each day and if all this  stopped tomorrow I would be OK knowing that you would be by my  side no matter what. I can't breathe without you. Don't ever  forget that."

July 24, 2001 - *NSYNC received 5 nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards including Best Group Video, Best Dance Video, Best Pop Video, Viewer's Choice, Best Editing In A Video, and Breakthrough Video, all for Pop. Check out all the nominations here.

July 24, 2001 - WireImage.com has images from *NSYNC's Popodyssey Concert in Oakland on Saturday. Check them out here.

July 24, 2001 - Emily posted a great recap of *NSYNC's appearance on The View yesterday.

July 24, 2001 - Launch.com talked about *NSYNC's publicity plans ahead of the release of Celebrity today. Check it out here.

July 23, 2001 - Rollingstone.com has a huge section on *NSYNC ahead of Celebrity's release tomorrow. You can hear Lance talk about how Britney and Justin have dated since the end of 1999 tour where Britney opened for *NSYNC. Check it out here.

July 23, 2001 - KISS 92 FM's Mad-Dog and Billie interviewed *NSYNC last month and the archive is available for listening here.

July 23, 2001 - How many albums do you think *NSYNC's Celebrity will sell the first week out?

July 22, 2001 - MTV aired the *NSYNC Road to Celebrity special on Saturday from San Diego.

July 21, 2001 - USA Today reports the pressure is on for the future of boybands as *NSYNC releases their new album Tuesday. Chris Kirkpatrick admits, "There's definitely pressure on us now, but it all comes from critics and the media. You know, we could sell 15 million copies of our new album, which is more than our last one sold, and it would still be considered a failure if we sell only, say, 1.5 million copies the first week - because we won't have broken our own record." Read more.

July 21, 2001 - CDNow.com's Miss Truth reports Britney and Justin did end up catching the Craig David show in LA as expected. Read more.

July 21, 2001 - With CD sales for the first half down 8 percent from last year, the industry hopes new releases from *NSYNC and Britney will make up for the lag. Read more.

July 19, 2001 - Thanks JustNsync2001. The MSN chat transcript with *NSYNC last night is posted on our message boards but unfortunately only Joey apparently showed up for the chat.

July 18, 2001 - The Sun reports Britney Spears has demanded tickets to Craig David's gig in LA later this month. Britney will take her boyfriend Justin Timberlake to the show.

July 18, 2001 - Melinda posted another update from the road on Monday. Check it out here.

July 18, 2001 - News.com.au reports Justin Timberlake reportedly said in 'very crude terms' that while his girlfriend was technically a virgin, he was still getting a lot of attention in the bedroom. Read more.

July 18, 2001 - *NSYNC will be chatting live on MSN.com today at 9 PM EST. The group is MSN's Artist of the Month.

July 15, 2001 - Thanks Mick. TV Hits Australia interviewed *NSYNC in their August 2001 issue.

July 15, 2001 - The National Post interviewed *NSYNC where Justin was asked who would he like as a sixth member of the group, "Eminem. He would totally fit in with us." Read more.

July 15, 2001 - Melinda wrote another update on NSYNC.com on the 4th and 12th of July. Check them out here.

July 15, 2001 - Justin Timberlake is featured in an autographed photo auction on ebay. The photo, item 1446333399, is bid at $34.95 and the auction ends July 18th.

July 14, 2001 - *NSYNC will be musical guests on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday, July 23rd.

July 14, 2001 - Justin Timberlake and JC are shown here riding Batman the Escape roller coaster at Six Flags Astroworld in Houston on July 6th. Lance and 20 of the bands friends went along as well.

July 14, 2001 - *NSYNC's JC commented on the problems A.J. McLean is facing during a telephone press conference saying, "I really don't know what to say about that, except for, you know, I hope he gets better. It's kind of sad that he's got a problem like that, and I wish the guy the best. I hope he pulls it together. At least he's admitted to himself that he has a problem. And that's pretty much the first step." Read more.

July 14, 2001 - Worldpop has two video clips of *NSYNC talking about surviving the tour and their friendship.

July 13, 2001 - The New York Daily News reports ticket prices for Michael Jackson's concert September 7th which will include performances by *NSYNC and Britney will range from an mind-boggling $15,000 to $50,000 per ticket.

July 13, 2001 - The Sun reports Britney Spears traveled 1,200 miles to visit an ailing Justin after he injured his ankle.

July 13, 2001 - Foxnew.com's Roger Friedman reports he received a lot of negative mail from *NSYNC fans following his slamming of *NSYNC Monday. Read more.

July 13, 2001 - Johnny Wright commented on the AJ McLean situation to TRL saying, "Although I no longer have a professional relationship with A.J., my personal relationship still remains very strong. I consider him apart of my family and I am very proud of A.J. for reconizing he needs help. Not only myself but all five members of *NSYNC send our thoughts and prayers."

July 10, 2001 - The always smarmy Roger Friedman of Foxnews.com ripped into *NSYNC in his column Monday saying Pop is "already a Dud with a capital D". Friedman also says "One of their songs [on Celebrity] just shamelessly rips off the Beatles' Can't Buy Me Love with this couplet: 'If I couldn't buy you diamond rings/And all those other expensive things.' Of course, no one ever accused *NSYNC of originality in the past." Read more.

July 9, 2001 - The Orlando Sentinel reports Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass were with Britney for the Pepsi 400 race Saturday where an onlooker revealed, "Britney looked bored." Edwin McCain, who performed the National Anthem before Britney said, "Gentlemen, start your engines" slammed Britney saying, "She's no musician. She's a pop star." McCain added, "Six months before they invented her. They told me she would be a major star. I guess they were right." Read more.

July 7, 2001 - Melinda posted another update from the road.

July 7, 2001 - Reuters' Gary Graff interviewed *NSYNC ahead of the release of Celebrity, where Lance revealed Jive execs weren't too excited about the group's new musical direction. Bass said, "They were like, 'I don't know. I don't like that song. I don't think you should go there. It's too different. And we're like, 'No, that's what we want to do. We don't want to do 10 'Bye, Bye, Byes' or three 'God Must Have Spents.' That's why every song on this album is different from each other. And they're all ... cool." Read more.

July 7, 2001 - The Star reports Britney Spears was spotted cuddling with another Justin, Justin Murdoch, 25, on the night of June 26 at the Standard Bar on L.A.'s Sunset Boulevard. Read more.

July 7, 2001 - *NSYNC's video Pop is up for final nominations in the MTV Viewer's Choice awards where nominees will be announced later this month after voting concludes for the September 6th awards show. Vote for *NSYNC here.

July 7, 2001 - Worldpop reports Chris Kirkpatrick dreads part of the Pop Odyssey set saying, "During Space Cowboy we drop down from the top of the stage about 100 feet. It kills me every time I go up there because I have a phobia of heights. I scream like a little girl."

July 7, 2001 - *NSYNC chatted with the BBC's Lisa Rogers. Check out the video interview here.

July 4, 2001 - The Britney and Justin look-alike contest on PlanetHollywood.com is over. Check out the final standings here.

July 4, 2001 - Nick Lachey made the list of the "hottest guys in music" in the August issue of Teen People magazine where he admitted his goal is to write a song on an *NSYNC album joking, "I could sell frickin' 15 million records and be a millionaire off of one song!"

July 3, 2001 - FIVE band member Jason J Brown blasted the video for *NSYNC's Pop telling NME, "It looks like there was far too much f***ing money ploughed into their video. I think it's a bit mad. It's this whole pop thing, and I know I'm part of it but it's spilling over into the whole music business." Read more.

July 3, 2001 - Filth2go.com reports the underwear that JC recently admitted he leaves behind while on the road, while unknown to him, is being picked up by maids at several hotels and later sold on the web, though I couldn't find any recent listings on ebay.

July 1, 2001 - After being fired for spreading the false rumor that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake got in a car accident, DJ's Kramer & Twitch have landed a show from 12 noon to 3 p.m. on WKRK-FM in Detroit. Read more.

July 1, 2001 - The Detroit Free Press' Brian McCollum reviewed *NSYNC's show in Detroit's Comerica Park Friday where he said, "..the guys need to realize there's GOOD pop music and BAD pop music. If the songs previewed Friday night from Celebrity are any indication, they may be on the cusp of breaking away into something worth bragging about." Read more here. Check out photos from the show here.

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