Chasez was born on August 8, 1976, in Bowie, Maryland.[2][3] When he was five years old, his biological mother entrusted guardianship of her son to her own former foster parents Roy and Karen Chasez, who worked as a technology company consultant and an editor, respectively.[4] He was adopted by the couple and raised Mennonite[5] along with his younger siblings, Tyler and Heather.[6] Chasez attended the former Robert Goddard Middle School and then Bowie High School.[7][8]
Career
As a child, Chasez was extremely shy but became interested in dance and got involved in competitive dance troupes.[9] At 13, he entered a talent contest on a dare from a friend and won first place, singing "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx.[4][10][11][12] In 1989, his mother saw auditions for Disney Channel's revival of The Mickey Mouse Club advertised in The Washington Post and encouraged Chasez to try out. Chasez was cast in the fourth season, and went by his initials because there was already another cast member named Josh (Ackerman).[9] He was on the show from 1991 to 1995, seasons 4 through 7. During this time he befriended future bandmate Justin Timberlake and performed alongside with Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Keri Russell, Ryan Gosling, Rhona Bennett, and Tony Lucca.[11] In 1995 it was announced that the show was cancelled.
Chasez and Justin Timberlake were the two lead singers of what would become the boy band NSYNC. The group was formed in 1995 by Chris Kirkpatrick and began recording and performing the following year in Europe.[11] In 1998, the band released its debut album *NSYNC which sold 11 million copies, earning them popularity in the United States with four number one singles including Tearin' Up My Heart and (God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You.[13] After the band had a series of legal struggles with manager Lou Pearlman, they signed with Jive Records. They released their second studio album No Strings Attached in 2000, which became the fastest-selling album of all time, selling 2.4 million copies in the first week. They held this record until 2015 when Adele surpassed the single-week sales record with her third album 25. Singles from the No Strings Attached album included "Bye Bye Bye", "This I Promise You", and the No. 1 hit "It's Gonna Be Me". The band produced their third studio album, Celebrity in 2001, which sold 1.8 million copies in the first week.
After their Celebrity Tour in 2002, NSYNC went on an indefinite hiatus but never formally disbanded. [14][15][16]
2002–2007: Solo years
Chasez signing an autograph
While still a member of NSYNC, Chasez appeared on the remix and album versions of the 1999 single "Bring It All to Me" by the girl group Blaque, though his vocals were credited to NSYNC as a whole. During the band's time Chasez became involved with songwriting and production for his group and other artists, including Wild Orchid.[17][18]
During NSYNC's hiatus, Chasez continued to work as a songwriter and producer. Producer Dallas Austin asked Chasez to record the song "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" for the Drumline soundtrack, which was later released as a single.[19] Chasez subsequently began work on a solo album with Jive Records, with tracks written and produced by Austin, Basement Jaxx, Robb Boldt and Riprock 'n' Alex G as well as Chasez.[20][21] After numerous delays,[22] his debut album Schizophrenic was released in February 2004.[23] Promotion for the album was affected by former bandmate Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson's Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, after which Chasez was dropped from performing at half-time at the 2004 Pro Bowl. With the NFL unhappy with the lyrics of the single "Some Girls (Dance with Women)" expressing too much sexuality, Chasez agreed to alter his performance[24] but was met with too much resistance from the organizers, who ultimately replaced Chasez's act with Hawaiian hula dancers.[25][26][27]
At the same time, Chasez sang vocals on the Basement Jaxx track, "Plug It In", which reached number one in the UK Dance Charts. Following the release of Schizophrenic, Chasez began work on his second album,[28]The Story of Kate.[29][30] The album featured production from Chasez's former NSYNC bandmate Timberlake,[31]Timbaland,[30] Dallas Austin,[32]Jimmy Harry,[30] and Emanuel Kiriakou.[33] Timberlake, who produced a few songs for the album, said, "In my opinion, (JC) had the best voice out of all of us...Out of all the boy bands, call 'em what you will, he was the one that could out-sing all of us. And I've known him since I was twelve, so it was fun to sit behind the board and push him."[34]
Though slated for release in 2006,[30]The Story of Kate was delayed to the following year.[32] The two lead singles, "Until Yesterday" and "You Ruined Me" were released online.[35] Chasez performed material from the new album during guests spots on TV shows Ghost Whisperer,[36]Las Vegas,[37] and Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.[38] After the album's release was further stalled,[39] it was effectively cancelled when Chasez and Jive parted ways through mutual decision in September 2007.[40]
2008–2024: America's Best Dance Crew, songwriting and occasional NSYNC reunions
In November 2010, the song "IF U C Kate" written by Dallas Austin, Taio Cruz, Alan Nglish, and Chasez was featured on the British band McFly's album, Above the Noise. Chasez wrote and produced two songs on AJ McLean's debut album Have It All, released in the US in February 2011.
In February 2012 Chasez and producer Jimmy Harry held auditions for an all-girl group[48] which was formed in November the same year under the name Girl Radical.[49] Girl Radical was an eleven-member pop musical act inspired by large Asian pop supergroups.[50][51]
In January 2023, Chasez appeared as a guest on former bandmate Lance Bass' Frosted Tips podcast, and revealed he is currently working on a musical.[60]
On September 12, 2023, following weeks of teasers and speculation regarding a potential reunion, Chasez and the other four members of NSYNC appeared together at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards to present the award for Best Pop to Taylor Swift.[61] On September 14, it was confirmed the group recorded a new song titled "Better Place" for the DreamWorks Animation film Trolls Band Together. The song, which was released on September 29, 2023, was the group's first new song in 22 years.[62]
2024–present: Playing With Fire
On March 13, 2024, NSYNC reunited and performed live at Justin Timberlake's "One Night Only" show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. They debuted their new song "Paradise" and performed their other songs like "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me". The performance was the first time all five NSYNC members had performed together since the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. "Paradise" is one of the tracks from Timberlake's album Everything I Thought It Was.
^Pearson, Beth (April 29, 2004). "Out of sync and into diversity JC Chasez talks of Britney, Justin, his new album and coming to Scotland". The Herald. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2023. What's wild is I didn't start listening to music until I was a teenager," he says. "I was kind of the black sheep because all these kids had dreams of doing music since they were five and my family just weren't musical. I was just kind of there because I got the job, so everybody thought it was their job to show me what good music was.
^"JC album due". dotmusic. February 6, 2003. Archived from the original on June 24, 2003. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^"NSYNC's return on hold while JC flies solo, Justin confirms". MTV. October 22, 2003. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020. “While a date for 'NSYNC to resume working together wasn't officially pushed back, JC's debut album Schizophrenic has been, repeatedly...from August 26 to October 21 to most recently, January 27.”
^JC Interviews with Davey Morris. WPRO-FM. February 2, 2007. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021 – via YouTube. Tentatively the album is gonna be called Kate.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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