How ‘Bye Bye Bye’ set *NSYNC free 25 years ago: ‘It was the emancipation of a boy band’

nypost.com:

“Bye Bye Bye” before the boy band’s signature song was released 25 years ago on Jan. 17, 2000.After scoring hits such as “I Want You Back” and “Tearin’ Up My Heart” on their self-titled debut album — released in 1997 in Germany and 1998 in the US — the group was locked in a highly publicized legal battle with former manager Lou Pearlman and former label RCA Records.

After suing Pearlman for fraud and misrepresentation, they were countersued with the threat of no longer being able to record or perform under the name *NSYNC.But after facing an uncertain future, the quintet of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick settled out of court and said goodbye to all that drama with “Bye Bye Bye,” the smash single that found them embarking on a new chapter with a new label, Jive Records, and a new attitude.The first single from *NSYNC’s blockbuster album “No Strings Attached” was a tie-cutting statement that took them to the stratospheric heights at the dawn of the new millennium.“I guess it was the right timing — let’s be real,” Fatone, 47, exclusively told The Post. “It happened [right after] the lawsuit.

All eyes were on us. What was going on? Are they gonna put a new album out?“It’s a message more about a girl and a guy and their relationship, not so much about the business itself.

But it kind of worked that way.”Indeed, for *NSYNC, the breakup song was a defiant declaration of independence.“It was the emancipation of a boy band that had legions of fans on a global basis,” said Barry Weiss, former president of Jive Records. “It was a perfect epithet to the first stage of their career and represented their emancipation, where they took matters into their own hands.”And as *NSYNC gave “Bye Bye.