Misc. *NSYNC News
(12.29) Source - Various: Here's some minor news tidbits for those of you who don't know:
�����~Singer Britney Spears has found a way to remind her *NSYNC sweetpea Justin Timberlake of her every day. She bought him a $40,000 diamond-encrusted watch by Patek Philippe.
�����~Wednesday's edition of TRL found a psychic making predictions for the future of Miss Britney Spears. The guest psychic predicted that the pop princess will have 5 poses for Playboy and that she will eventually marry Justin in a big wedding. The prediction was strongly apposed by the studio's audience, all the girls eager to point out that Justin would never marry Britney, regardless of their knowledge [or lack there of] on the issue...
�����~The most recent rumor circulating the fan scene regards the recent claim that Miss Britney Spears is just using *NSYNC hottie Justin Timberlake, and really has another boyfriend in her hold. MuchMusic mentioned this little tid-bit on its show recently, but managed to have boy-wonder Timberlake in its midst at the time the rumor was brought up. Justin explained how at the time, when news of the pop stars romance blew up so suddenly, Britney had actually begun to date 'Adam'. However, instead of making 'Adam' public, Jive decided to run with the "Britney & Justin Romance" to use it to their advantage. In reality, apparently, Justin is dating a different girl than Spears, who is, in fact, linked to mystery-man 'Adam'.
�����~*NSYNC Is Sweet As Candy: Top, teen-appealing superstore Spencer Gifts has on its market Official *NSYNC Crazy Dip Lollipops and even those little Necco Candy Hearts with pictures of the *NSYNC hotties plastered across them. It seems fans just can't get enough of the Pop Superstars.
�����~The Kansas Star has named *NSYNC's 'It's Gonna Be Me' as the "Best Guilty Pleasure Song Of The Year" With the side-note: "Oh yeah, like that wasn't you singing it in the car this summer." To view the entire list, visit kcstar.com.
Billboard Bits
(12.29) Source - Billboard: Dick Clark will ring in 2001 with a trio of television specials - "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve," "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2001, Part 1," and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2001, Part 2." All three shows will air on ABC television, kicking off at 10 PM ET/PT.
�����Clark will host all three events from Times Square in New York. The "Primetime" special will include highlights of Kiss, O-Town, *NSYNC, and Jessica Simpson tours during 2000. "Part 1" will be co-hosted by "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" comic Wayne Brady in Hollywood, and feature segments with 98 Degrees, Third Eye Blind, Lonestar, Baha Men, Boyz II Men, and the Bangles. "Part 2" will wrap up the night with Vertical Horizon and Joe.
�����If you among those planning a night at home this New Year's Eve, Fox television will be presenting "Billboard's Rock'n'Roll New Year's Eve." The 90-minute special will count down the top-10 music videos of the year, and will include performances by *NSYNC, Ricky Martin, Creed, Faith Hill, Destiny's Child, and 3 Doors Down from this year's Billboard Music Awards.
Allstar's Favorite - And Not So Favorite - Moments Of 2000
(12.29) Source - Allstar: The year 2000 saw its share of the usual - record-breaking sales, boy band phenoms, mega tours, and shocking arrests - but it's the unusual that allstar finds most interesting. When they aren't breaking sales records, touring the globe, or climbing the charts, artists can be outrageous, sad, generous, appalling, and downright stupid. From Foo Fighter Dave Grohl's Down Under arrest for motoring a scooter under the influence of alcohol to Fiona Apple's onstage freakout, artists' actions and mouths can sometimes get the best of them. To that end, we have put our two cents in on some of the more memorable happenings of 2000. Without further ado, we present allstar's most memorable moments of the year.
�����Best Musical Torture Device: The Backstreet Boys. Remember those students at the University of Toronto who were "tortured" by campus police with the music of the Backstreet Boys and other pop songs in an attempt to end a six-day-old sit-in at the president's office?
�����Moment of Truth: Britney Spears and *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake finally admitting that they are a couple.
Best & Worst Singles Of 2000
(12.29) Source - USA Today: Although musicians are critically and historically judged by their albums, a good case could be made for the single - the song that is isolated from an album for hopeful radio or video exposure, or downloaded for personal replaying - as pop's true heartbeat.
�����It's these songs, more than entire albums, that people cherish or loathe, that they remember as the soundtracks to their personal dramas and comedies.
�����Here's a list of the songs that enthralled or aggravated me most this year. Although many songs that weren't commercially prominent deserve to make the best (or worst) roster, I've restricted my choices, in the interest of accessibility, to songs that were appreciable radio- or video-format hits.
�����-THE BEST-
�����01. Eminem, Stan.
�����02. 3 Doors Down, Kryptonite.
�����03. U2, Beautiful Day.
�����04. Lee Ann Womack, I Hope You Dance.
�����05. Wallflowers, Sleepwalker.
�����06. Destiny's Child, Say My Name.
�����07. *NSYNC, Bye Bye Bye.
����������Follow-up It's Gonna Be Me may have had more enduring melodic charm, but it would be inconceivable to triple-Bye-pass the attitude-laden kiss-off smash that set up the biggest first-week album sales in history. Sneer at your peril at this jewel of Swedish production craftsmanship.
�����08. Blink-182, All the Small Things.
�����09. Dixie Chicks, Goodbye Earl.
�����10. Travis, Why Does It Always Rain on Me.
�����-THE WORST-
�����01. Christina Aguilera, What a Girl Wants.
����������Genie in a Bottle could have made my 10-best list last year, but everything since (Girl was chosen to represent the complete works) has sorely tested a nation's patience. With a vocal-riff and midriff crisis reaching alarming proportions, Aguilera has in the space of a year replaced Mariah Carey as the most irritating singer in pop.
�����02. Creed, With Arms Wide Open.
�����03. Billy Gilman, One Voice.
�����04. Jessica Simpson, I Think I'm in Love With You.
����������Every time it came on the radio, you'd think you were going to hear John Mellencamp's Jack and Diane - not such a thrill in itself, but when you realized instead it was this soggy slice of teen-pop piffle, built around a J&D sample inexplicably authorized by Mellencamp, the sense of devastation was overpowering.
�����05. Santana featuring the Product G&B, Maria Maria.
�����06. Reba McEntire, I'll Be.
�����07. Baha Men, Who Let the Dogs Out.
�����08. Bon Jovi, Thank You for Loving Me.
�����09. Faith Hill & Tim McGraw, Let's Make Love.
�����10. O-Town, Liquid Dreams.
Best Live Pop Of 2000
(12.29) Source - Post-Gazette: It was a banner year for Britney Spears - two sold-out concerts at the Post-Gazette Pavilion, screaming fans, a pole dance, pyrotechnic blasts to rival Kiss and an album that sold more than 8 million copies.
�����*NSYNC didn't fare too badly either, selling out Three Rivers Stadium along the way to topping Billboard's year-end album list.
�����The Backstreet Boys, their rivals with the ninth-best-selling album of the year, are here in February, having sold out two Arena shows in roughly half the time it takes Fred Durst to use the f-word 57 times.
�����And then, of course, you've got Christina Aguilera. While her Post-Gazette Pavilion show was something less than Britney-esque in terms of ticket sales, it would have sold out, too, if promoters had only thought to move it down to Metropol. Her show was better, though, for what it's worth, which financially speaking is less than half.
�����But even Aguilera outsold what was easily the year's most entertaining teen attraction, the Donnas, who rocked Club Laga back in March for just a couple hundred fans with a set that boasted all the youthful energy you never seem to find in a Stadium-level teen act.
�����Why that is I couldn't say for sure. But in the meantime, here's a look at Y2K's best concerts.
�����01. The Who [Post-Gazette Pavilion, June 29th]
�����02. The Donnas/ Fastbacks/Smugglers [Club Laga, March 20th]
�����03. Macy Gray [Club Laga, Feb. 4th]
�����04. Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes [Post-Gazette Pavilion, June 28th]
�����05. D'Angelo [I.C. Light Amphitheatre, Aug. 20th]
�����06. Bruce Springsteen [Mellon Arena, April 25-26th]
�����07. The Supersuckers [31st Street Pub, May 31st]
�����08. Moby [Rolling Rock Town Fair, Aug. 5th]
�����09. Kiss [Post-Gazette Pavilion, May 26th]
�����10. Uz Jsme Doma [Millvale Industrial Theater, June 27th]
New Years Eve Events
(12.29) Source - Popcentric: What better way to celebrate the New Year than to celebrate it *NSYNC style?! For further information, visit Kansas City's 'The Star' News Paper online at kcstar.com.
�����Where: Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Road; (816) 460-2020.
�����When: 6 PM to 12:30 AM.
�����What: Science City open 6 to 10 PM, giant-screen movies, laser shows, live stage shows, indoor fireworks at 9 PM, "*NSYNC: Bigger Than Live" movie premiere at 9:30 and 11 PM, sit-down and fast-food dinner options and music from the Kerry Strayer Orchestra, the McFadden Brothers, Galaxy and Liverpool.
�����Cost: $60 for adults; $30 for ages 3 to 12; $165 for family of four.
�����Attire: Casual or formal.
�����Vibe: All ages.
�����Midnight: Indoor and outdoor fireworks; "Midwest's largest" balloon drop.
�����Reservations: Suggested.
TV Guide Announces Nominees For Awards Show
(12.29) Source - Zap2It: With the awards shows season approaching, TV Guide is getting ready for its third annual "TV Guide Awards" with nine new categories and 240 first-round nominees this year.
�����The show will take place at the Shrine Expo Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 24 and will air on March 7, 2001 on FOX. The winners will be determined via ballots published in the January 6 and January 13 issues of TV Guide and made available online at www.tvguide.com and through AOL.
�����Music Special of the Year
�����Christina Aguilera - My Reflection
�����An All-Star Tribute to Joni Mitchell
�����Marc Anthony: The Concert from MSG
�����Britney in Hawaii
�����Dixie Chicks: On the Fly
�����Gloria Estefan, Caribbean Soul: The Atlantis Concert
�����Faith!
�����Elton John - Greatest Hits Live
�����*NSYNC Live from Madison Square Garden
�����*NSYNC *Ntimate Holiday Special
�����A Supernatural Evening with Santana
�����VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross
Behind The Music: The *NSYNC - MSN Deal
(12.28) Source - CNN: Members of *NSYNC are known to lurk in chat rooms under assumed names, checking out the latest rumors that the public spreads about them - a practice that undoubtedly drives their female devotees mad. (Hey, it's easier than hanging around the food court.) To the band, going online was synonymous with surfing the Web and visiting chat rooms. That is, until the band's business representatives approached them about forming an Internet partnership with Microsoft's MSN portal, which the members of *NSYNC hadn't even heard of.
�����But that's not a fatal flaw for a business venture, of course. In college, a pre-"Air" Michael Jordan swore by his Adidas sneakers and was dismayed when his agent signed an endorsement deal with some company named "Nike." Similarly, the new *NSYNC-Microsoft partnership, announced a few weeks ago, could influence the music industry the way Jordan's imprimatur did the sneaker business.
�����The software giant is hoping that the stupendously popular platinum godlets will lure teen subscribers - their capacity for slavish loyalty to the band already confirmed - to its $21.95 a month Internet access network, one of the few tech sectors it has failed to dominate. The new service, NSYNC@MSN, will provide the same Net onramp as MSN.com, but the draw for the teens will be its media player and instant-messaging system with skins featuring the band, and the promise that subscribers will have exclusive access to *NSYNC photos, videos, newsletters and chats.
�����The *NSYNC-Microsoft arrangement involves a little-known Internet advertising network called MusicVision, which had the corporate smarts to find a new avenue of income for its client, *NSYNC. In addition to an advance payment, the band will get a cut of every fee that subscribers pay Microsoft for the NSYNC@MSN service during the three-year partnership. (MusicVision also will get an advance payment and a share of the new MSN venture.) Sources estimate that *NSYNC eventually could reap between $20 million and $30 million from the partnership. "It's a perfect fit between the No.1 band and the No. 1 computer company," gushes *NSYNC's business manager Barry Klarberg.
�����Weiss and Leber put this maxim to the test with *NSYNC. *NSYNC, whose February release No Strings Attached has sold more than 9 million copies, also has one of the Web's most visited sites. According to PC Data Online's November ranking of celebrity sites, *NSYNC topped the list with 716,000 unique visitors. In August, *NSYNC business manager Klarberg approached MusicVision with the group's wish to set up more regular online chats with its fans. "Originally there was no idea for a co-branded Internet service or a service provider," the manager says.
�����It's too early to say how the fans are responding. While the band, MusicVision and Microsoft all worked on creating the CD-ROM for new subscribers, complete with pictures of *NSYNC on the disc, the new service doesn't yet have its own home page; it's scheduled to debut by next month. And *NSYNC was able to distribute the discs at only a few concerts before retiring from the road for the winter. They'll renew the marketing push on next summer's tour with NSYNC@MSN banners and free CD-ROMs at concerts and once-a-month live chats on the service. Other methods of promotion include ads on NSYNC.com and the MSN.com Internet portal and perhaps bundling the software for the ISP on the next *NSYNC CD release.
�����None of the parties involved in the partnership foresees the new NSYNC@MSN service competing with the *NSYNC Web site. Klarberg thinks that the two target different markets. The Web site can continue to sell T-shirts and souvenirs while the MSN service will have exclusives like backstage footage from concerts. Despite the information-sharing that has become endemic to the Internet, MSN hopes that its exclusives aren't pilfered from the site and distributed to the Web at large. "At some point you have to have faith," Sanford says. "I have a feeling when you're a fan with a newsletter or picture that has exclusivity, it's good not knowing everyone has access to it."
Concert Tickets Rake In Millions For Acts Like Turner, *NSYNC
(12.28) Source - Allstar: As she heads into touring retirement, pop diva Tina Turner found her record-breaking Twenty-Four Seven world tour finish on top as 2000's highest-grossing tour, earning $80.2 million from 95 reported dates, according to industry trade Pollstar. The tour logged 118 dates worldwide.
�����Following behind Turner in the top 10 is hot boy band *NSYNC (selling more tickets than anyone this year); Dave Matthews Band, with its mix of amphitheater and stadium shows; Kiss' never-ending farewell tour (128 shows with more planned for 2001); husband/wife team Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's Soul 2 Soul tour; the reunion tours of Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Metallica; and teen queen Britney Spears. Collectively, the top 20 tours grossed $824.3 million.
�����Concert tickets bought in 2000 were an estimated $1.7 billion, up from last year's record $1.5 billion, according to the magazine. This year's average ticket price was $43.75; last year's was $43.63. Between 1998 and 1999, concert ticket prices jumped 30 percent.
�����The Top 20 Grossing Tours of 2000:
�����01. Tina Turner - $80.2 million
�����02. *NSYNC - $76.4 million
�����03. Dave Matthews Band - $68.2 million
�����04. Kiss - $62.7 million
�����05. Tim McGraw/Faith Hill - $48.8 million
�����06. Dixie Chicks - $47.3 million
�����07. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - $45.9 million
�����08. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - $42.1 million
�����09. Metallica - $42 million
�����10. Britney Spears - $40.5 million
�����11. Ricky Martin - $37.2 million
�����12. Red Hot Chili Peppers - $31.3 million
�����13. Sting - $28.9 million
�����14. Barbra Streisand - $27 million
�����15. Creed - $26.2 million
�����16. Santana - $26.1 million
�����17. Backstreet Boys - $25.8 million
�����18. Jimmy Buffett - $24.1 million
�����19. Up in Smoke Tour - $22.2 million
�����20. Phish - $21.4 million
From Excite: *NSYNC received $76.4 million to place second on Pollstar's list of ticket revenue. The boy band sold more tickets than anyone this year, its 1.6 million edging the Dave Matthews Band. Teen pop is going full steam: *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Backstreet Boys together sold 4 million tickets and took in $156 million, the magazine said.
Kevin Richardson Slams Louis Pearlman
(12.28) Source - MTV Asia: The Backstreet Boys' Kevin Richardson has admitted his resentment at the success of their younger rivals *NSYNC.
�����But Kevin is quick to explain the bad feeling is not directed towards *NSYNC themselves, but rather their manager, and Backstreet Boys ex-manager, Louis Pearlman, who was responsible for the formation of both groups.
�����Kevin says, "It's not *NSYNC itself but where *NSYNC comes from that digs me, digs me, digs me - and gets me, still and to this day.
�����"Mr Pearlman was always speaking loyalty, and preaching loyalty, saying, 'I love you guys, you're like my sons.' And I'd lost my father to cancer. So I looked at Lou like a father figure.
�����"But I was naive, and he's a liar. We'll always remember him for helping us get started. But we'll also remember him for screwing us blind and building another group behind our backs."
�����The Backstreet Boys sued Pearlman during the recording of 1999's "Millennium" album. They eventually settled out of court with a deal that entitles Pearlman to one-sixth of all their future earnings.
Want To Bet On Britney Having A Baby In 2001?
(12.28) Source - Music365: I thought this was interesting since as of now it kinda relates to Justin since he's the one having a relationship with her...Just thought I'd post it for those of you who care. ;)
�����A UK bookmakers firm are offering odds on Britney Spears becoming a mum next year.
�����The Jack Brown Group are offering odds of 25-1 on the world�s most famous virgin having a baby in 2001. Not surprisingly Britney's record company has dismissed the idea as a publicity stunt.
�����A spokesman for Jive Records said: "I would not put any money on it. If the odds were 500-1 it might be worth putting a pound on, but only if you could afford to lose the money."
Top Selling Albums Of 2000
(12.28) Source - Billboard: The following music charts are for the year 2000 as compiled by Billboard magazine during the eligibility period of Dec. 4, 1999 through Nov. 25, 2000.
�����01. NO STRINGS ATTACHED - *NSYNC [Jive]
�����02. SUPERNATURAL - Santana [Arista]
�����03. THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP - Eminem [Aftermath/Interscope]
�����04. OOPS!...I DID IT AGAIN - Britney Spears [Jive]
�����05. DR. DRE: 2001 - Dr. Dre [Aftermath/Interscope]
�����06. HUMAN CLAY - Creed [Wind-up]
�����07. ALL THE WAY: A DECADE OF SONG - Celine Dion [550 Music/Epic]
�����08. CHRISTINA AGUILERA - Christina Aguilera [RCA]
�����09. MILLENNIUM - Backstreet Boys [Jive]
�����10. AND THEN THERE WAS X - DMX [Ruff Ryders/Def Jam]
*NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick: A FuMan With A FuPlan
(12.27) Source - Launch: *NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick is just one of a select group of professional musicians who can boast about also having the title of chief executive officer (CEO). Kirkpatrick is the founder and CEO of FuMan Skeeto, Inc., an up-and-coming, cutting-edge creative arts and media company that specializes in clothing design, the visual arts, and music production.
�����"Well, basically we have a production-slash-merchandising clothing company, and right now we just launched the clothing end of it," Kirkpatrick tells Launch. "We have just a few shirts right now for women that are out in Nordstrom, and the spring line is when we start the guy's line, so it will be a bigger line for women and a guy's line in the spring."
�����He adds that the venture into fashion keeps him very busy. "There is no free time. I'm an *NSYNC member 24/7, and then whenever I get a break from that, or if there's a little bit of downtime from that, I totally work on the line, work on the clothes, and work on concepts," he says.
�����*NSYNC spent much of the year 2000 touring in support of its album No Strings Attached, which meant Kirkpatrick had to budget his time accordingly and rely heavily on the help of his associates: "I'm very hands-on in the company, but I've got some great people working for me in the office and out there on the road with me," he notes. "They all really put in as much work, if not more, than I do. Every time I'm available I help out as much as possible, and I'm always in on our brainstorming meetings and things."
�����Up until this point Kirkpatrick's company has maintained a relatively low profile, relying primarily on the fumanskeeto.com website and clothing retailer Nordstrom to sell its FuMan Skeeto holiday line. He tells Launch the company will be more visible by spring. "The only thing we really have done is put [it] up on the website, and if I, like, appear on a TV show or something I'll talk about it, but, you know, we haven't made any extensive attempts at just promoting the line yet. Hopefully, when we have the spring line come out, that's when we'll do that."
�����Kirkpatrick tells Launch that his bandmates really enjoy the FuMan Skeeto creations - especially since they get them for free. "We started with some hats and T-shirts and stuff, and I've given them some of those. We're talking about designing specific lines, and they'll have specialty items that they'll each get to design and have a hand in."
�����He adds, "You know, we've got some hats where we've taken our kanji [Chinese characters in Japanese writing] and put it into a Superman logo or whatever, for Joey [Fatone], and we've got some bandannas that might be coming out with the studs on them with the logo for Justin [Timberlake] - everybody is going to be involved in it."
�����Everybody includes teen queen Britney Spears, who may get her own line of FuMan Skeeto apparel before the end of 2001. "I know she'll wear some of the stuff," Kirkpatrick insists. "She's already expressed interest in some of the stuff, and we've talked about designing specific pieces just for her."
�����Musicians such as Sean "Puffy" Combs (Sean John), Jay-Z (Roc-A-Wear), and Busta Rhymes (Bushi Designs) have each made successful forays into the fashion world, but being a full-time musician and a CEO has its downside. "It's really a lot more work than I initially thought it was going to be," Kirkpatrick says. "And I know everyone that works with me and is involved thinks the same thing. There's so many things that you look at, and you think they are going to be easy, but there's so many hurdles to overcome, and it can be nuts."
�����Despite the difficulty of balancing two careers at the same time, Kirkpatrick has no plans to quit his day job anytime soon. "I think FuMan is basically an outreach of *NSYNC for me and the other guys," he explains. "We're talking about doing a comic or cartoon and possibly a line of toys in the future; and, you know, it does a lot of stuff that *NSYNC can't do."
*NSYNC's Lance Bass To Host New Year's Eve Jam
(12.27) Source - Launch: *NSYNC singer Lance Bass and his business partner, nightclub entrepreneur Eytan Sugarman, are hosting a New Year's Eve concert event dubbed the Real Millennium New Year's Eve Jam 2001 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City Sunday (December 31).
�����The New Year's Eve bash, produced in association with A Happy Place Productions, will feature performances from rapper Nelly, Ludacris, Kelly Price with Darius Green, Black Rob and the Sugarhill Gang, among others. The special guest DJs for the evening will be Angie Martinez with Coco Chanel and DJ Jazzy Joyce.
Sweet Charity Of Youth
(12.27) Source - New York Post: Young philanthropists like *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake donate thousands of dollars to the Giving Back Fund, a popular charity among athletes and musicians who want to support community music and sports. His donations go toward providing underprivileged schools the money needed to buy instruments and pay teachers for high-caliber music programs.
�����"I remember my parents always saying, remember your roots. Whatever happens, remember your roots, remember where you came from," says the 18-year-old boy-band heartthrob. "And that's what I'm doing now. I want to give back to the communities. I want to install the best possible music and arts programs in schools - in public schools today."
�����To read the whole article, visit nypost.com.
Sting Joins Super Bowl Extravaganza
(12.27) Source - Rollingstone: Sting has been added to the already bulging list of performers at Super Bowl XXXV, which will be held Jan. 28 at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium and broadcast on NBC. During the pre-game show, he will perform his new hit "Desert Rose" as well as the Police classic "Roxanne." Seventies rockers STYX have also joined the Super Bowl lineup, which already included Aerosmith and *NSYNC (who will share halftime performance duties), the Backstreet Boys, who will sing the national anthem, and Ray Charles, who will sing "America the Beautiful."
Rap-Rock, Bubblegum Chewed Up The Charts
(12.27) Source - USA Today: Sisqo celebrated barely there skivvies in Thong Song. The Baha Men anguished over Who Let the Dogs Out. Dr. Dre chided those who Forgot About Dre. Britney Spears repeated her head-scratching success with Oops!...I Did It Again.
�����Granted, Y2K ushered in no musical think tank. Style trumped substance.
�����Despite a glut of bubblegum and rap-rock, a variety of genres and generations bubbled up, allowing acts as diverse as the long-defunct Beatles and country crossover Faith Hill to flourish alongside razor-tongued Eminem and heartthrob harmonizers *NSYNC. The latter's No Strings Attached emerged as the year's top-selling disc, thanks to 9.2 million fans who apparently can't buy-buy-buy enough teen pop.
�����Mercifully, the ubiquitous genre didn't drown out the quieter sectors of the musical landscape. Amid the pompous drone of Creed and the tawdry pop of Christina Aguilera, a handful of modest arrivals, from David Gray to Jill Scott, kept hope alive. And a triumphant return from U2 gave hope to traditional rockers.
*NSYNC Take The Lead, Trailed By Spears, Backstreet
(12.27) Source - PioneerPlanet: *NSYNC's "No Strings Attached" is the biggest-selling CD of 2000, moving more than 10 million copies, says the Recording Industry Association of America. Tying for second place is Britney Spears' "Oops!...I Did It Again," the Backstreet Boys' "Black & Blue," and Santana's "Supernatural," each selling 8 million copies.
Country Star Jackson Talks *NSYNC
(12.27) Source - Popcentric: Country star Alan Jackson from the Associated Press: "My little girls are real young, but they love those little pop things going on now like *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. Back when (Jackson's hit) 'Chattahoochee' was out, I had young kids who were jumping all over that country thing."
Caught In The Act, Part I: The Best Onstage Pix Of '00
(12.27) Source - Allstar: From Scott Weiland's cross dressing antics onstage in L.A. to Kix Brooks firing up a cannon at Fan Fair to Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale smiling for our cameras at a house party, our photographers captured a lot of action onstage and off this past year. Take a peak at the more visually-stimulating moments of 2000 with this pictorial look back at some of the year's biggest newsmakers.
�����Washington, D.C., June 20: Britney Spears gets down on her knees at her tour opener at the Merriweather Post Pavillion, where her act consists of stripper-like dancing, pillow fights, and a visit from *NSYNC. (Photo by Marianne Meyers)
�����Memphis, Tenn., May 12: It's a bird! It's a plane! It's those nutty boys in *NSYNC all harnessed up on their No Strings Attached tour. (Photo by Dan Ball)
�����Detroit, July 12: Ozzy Osbourne proves metal will never die at Ozzfest, though he wasn't too rock to poke a little fun at the boy bands with his parody of *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye." (Photo by Scott Sprague)