Sep 24, 2023

172 2. But wait, Lance wasn’t the first fifth member of ‘N Sync! This role was initially played by Jason Galasso, who had known Fatone in the choir back when they were in high school and was dabbling in the singing group arts when he received a page (1990s, FTW) out of nowhere from his former acquaintance. Coincidentally, he also knew Chasez because, as Galasso explained on The digital descent podcast in 2019, he “used to spend time with The Mickey Mouse Club“stars like Chase Hampton And Keri Russell. After having “perfectly locked in” on an interpretation of Boyz II Men“End of the Road” from “End of the Road”, that was it, he was part of the still unknown group. “I remember being like, ‘Dang, Justin’s young! '” he recalls. “But then I heard him sing, I was like, ‘Oh, no matter how old he is, he can sing breathtakingly.’ But at the same time, the bassist was also part of a three-man band called Unreal, “so I’m still trying to decide, you know, what I want to do, what direction I want to go in as far as what group I want to go to,” recalls Galasso, who currently works in the mortgage industry. “Because I remember, the first time Lou Pearlman brought music, he was thinking about what type of music we were going to make, and I come from an R&B and hip-hop background. That’s my love, my heart, my soul.” So when Pearlman came along with “this European-style techno, I was like, ‘Hmm, okay.’ » So, he went ahead and traveled with the other Unreal guys to Atlanta to record a demo, which he thought turned out to be a success. great. Meanwhile, ‘N ​​Sync was starting to shape a look and they were talking about creating a showcase for Disney’s Pleasure Island. They even took an excursion to Shaquille O’Nealto visit his home studio in Orlando, but they had yet to record any music. And, more importantly, for Galasso, they hadn’t signed a contract yet. Very quickly, the two groups tried to convince him to sign. Galasso said he took the dueling contracts to a lawyer and that while the deal with the trio was fairly standard, Pearlman entered ‘N Sync’s contract himself as the sixth member, and that contract was “thick as a telephone directory”. He felt like the other members of ‘N Sync were more excited about the deal than he was – which was true, because they all signed it, whether they really understood what it entailed or not. . So Galasso ultimately opted for a group that wasn’t ‘N Sync. Entertainment