3. *NSYNC
It’s been almost a decade since *NSYNC bid “Bye, Bye, Bye” to the pop music scene.  Argubly, *NSYNC was the biggest group to come out of the bubblegum pop boom of the late 90s.  Formed by boy band mogul Lou Pearlman (who also gave us the Backstreet Boys and O-Town among other pop creations) in 1995, the band built a following in Europe and Asia before slowly creeping their way into the US.  Three years later they released their debut self-titled album in the US, which had sluggish sales until a Disney Channel concert special rocketed them to popularity.  After the Disney special (that was originally offered to the Backstreet Boys and they turned it down), the debut album went on to sell over 10 million copies.  Much like their counterparts the Backstreet Boys, the group filed a lawsuit and broke away from Pearlman in 1998 after it was discovered Pearlman was getting over fifty percent of the band’s earnings.  This led to *NSYNC moving labels and releasing their biggest album to date No Strings Attached.  The album has sold over 11 million copies and was the all-time bestselling pre-ordered album on Amazon.com.

By late 2002 after extensive touring in support of their fourth full-length album Celebrity, the group took a break.  Member Justin Timberlake began to focus on his solo career more during this time which ended up extending the group’s hiatus. Timberlake’s solo career took off and he never looked back.  The group’s last performance was at the 2004 Annual Challenge for the Children where the group performed “The Star Spangled Banner” (which ironically was the first song they ever sang together). While they never made an official announcement, there have been no major plans for the five to regroup.  Since then, Justin Timberlake has also turned his sights towards acting and was recently named creative director of MySpace, JC Chasez also embarked on a solo career and is producing, Chris Kirkpatrick fronts his own band, and Joey Fatone is currently working with fellow member Lance Bass on a new reality boy band series for VH1.

Unlike boy bands like New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC shot up out of seemingly nowhere, exploded, shined bright, and just disappeared.  Some would argue that they went out while they were on top instead of slowly fading out with the bubblegum pop scene.  In recent years pop has started to make a comeback as made evident by the success of the current NKOTBSB tour.  Fans have not forgotten about *NSYNC and continue to drive themselves crazy thinking of a reunion.  While they all remain on different pages, maybe in time they’ll figure it out and once again be “in sync.”

Catch up on the rest of our Top 10 Most Anticipated Reunions announced so far