Original NSYNC member who had big impact on band's name speaks out about quitting

An original member of NSYNC has opened up about their decision to leave the group.

The group was founded in Florida in 1995 by Chris Kirkpatrick, and released their first eponymous album in 1997, as well as the single I Want You Back.

Originally, the lineup of the group consisted of Kirkpatrick, as well as Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, and Jason Galasso.

But Galasso would soon leave the band, and was replaced by Lance Bass before the band became a household name.

Now, Galasso has opened up about his decision to depart in 1995, just before the band signed a contract with Lou Pearlman, who would go on to be convicted as a scam artist.

While he left the band very early on, Galasso was still in a way a part of the group in a sense.

NSYNC in 1997, after Galasso left (Jason Buckner/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

This was because the name NSYNC was originally made up of the last letter of each of the members' names.

Timberlake's mom Lynn Harless came up with the idea, and the name has the N from Justin, S Chris, Y from Joey, N from Jason, and C from JC.

However, it does not include the E at the end of Lance.

Galasso appears in the TV series Boy Band Confidential from ID, which includes a look at NYSYN alongside other big groups, and is set to air on April 13 and April 14, as well as streaming on HBO Max.

Speaking to the documentary, Galasso revealed that he left because he had decided to not sign the contract with Pearlman.

Explaining why, he said: “At that juncture with NSYNC, it didn’t feel right. So I didn’t do it.”

Things ended up very different for Galasso, who ended up not pursuing music professionally after leaving the group.

NSYNC would go on to be one of the biggest boy bands of the 90s and 2000s (Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

So what did he do instead?

“After NSYNC, I went back to college and got my degree," he said. "Then a buddy of mine I went to school with, he was in the mortgage business, and I’ve been doing that ever since.”

Of course, there is the question hanging over - what if he had stayed behind in the group? How different might his life have been?

The documentary put this to Galasso, asking if he has thought about how things might have been.

“There’s always going to be those ‘what if’ moments, it’s just human nature," he said, adding after a momentary silence: “I don't know, I don't know.”

NSYNC would go on to sell some 70 million records.