NSYNC Joey Fatone reflects on Justin Timberlake’s exit from band: ‘not blindsided’

The hit ’90s pop band, brought back delighted millions of millennial fans as they reunited last month at the MTV VMAs 2023.

Justin Timberlake, who exited the band in 2001 to pursue a solo career, roped in the guys, Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick, for the song, Better Place, from the upcoming DreamWorks Animation movie Trolls Band Together.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Joey Fatone got candid about the SexyBack singer’s exit from the band.

“I was not blindsided by [*NSYNC’s] breakup,” he told the outlet. “I was more blindsided as far as him coming out with music and not knowing that he was going to go and do an actual album/tour thing.

Fatone shared that he the band members believed that Timberlake would eventually return after he had released some music.

“It was more of, ‘Hey, I’m going to do some music, and then we’ll get back together.’ That’s what that was,” he recalled. “I was like, OK. But then when he went on tour and then things started going, I was like, ‘All right, I’ll go do Broadway.’”

*NSYNC went on a decade-long hiatus following the release of Timberlake’s debut solo album in 2002 Justified.

However, Fatone added that he didn’t blame his bandmate for the departure, adding that he understood the decisions were coming more from “the record company” than Timberlake himself.

“When you’re younger, you think it’s that person. But then you look at the whole bigger scheme of things. … That’s the business.”