*NSYNC may be on another undetermined hiatus after briefly reuniting in 2023, but the new Investigation Discovery documentary Boy Band Confidential is putting them back in the spotlight.
The ID doc was produced by *NSYNC member Joey Fatone, and features interviews with members of that group, plus the Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men, discussing the ups and downs of the boy band explosion from the '90s and early 2000s, also highlighting some of the seedier aspects of the craze.
A majority of the discourse in the documentary surrounds the exploitative behavior of Lou Pearlman, the manager and creator of both *NSYNC and BSB, who was known for his contracts that proved to do more harm to the band's members, plus eventually being jailed for a long-running Ponzi scheme in 2008 (he died in custody in 2016).
© Getty ImagesOne of the other stories to pop off from the first part of the documentary, which aired on April 13, was an interview with Jason Galasso, who was in fact one of the original members of *NSYNC.
Who is Jason Galasso?
Jason was recruited to join *NSYNC in its early stages as their bass singer, and knew Joey from high school. At the time, the band consisted of Joey, Chris Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez.
In fact, Jason's involvement directly contributed to the group's name (which is a combination of the last letter of each member's first name), along with Justin's mother remarking how their vocals sounded like they were "in sync."
© InstagramWhile Jason remains out of the spotlight now, his public social media page says that he's a mortgage loan originator living in Florida. And he has shared the occasional throwback to his (brief) *NSYNC days.
"After *NSYNC, I went back to college, I got my degree," Jason recalled in the documentary. "And then, a buddy of mine that I went to school with, he was in the mortgage business and I've been doing that ever since."
© InstagramWhy did Jason quit?
Jason eventually decided to drop out before the group officially signed with Lou's Trans Continental label due to not only a growing displeasure with becoming a "teen idol," but also once he showed his contract to a lawyer, who pointed out some obvious red flags.
"I had no idea what was going to happen and also I was a stupid kid," he recalled in the documentary. "I had never seen a music contract before, so I was smart enough, back then, to take the contract to lawyers to review it. And it's like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Lou's a member of the band now?"
© Getty ImagesPer the contracts, which were overstuffed to deliberately trip up the boys, Lou would not only gain access to 51% of the group's profits, but was also a silent sixth member, thereby granting him access to 1/6th of the 49% the members received.
Jason had his lawyer review the contract for *NSYNC in comparison with the R&B group Unreal, which he was also being offered a place with concurrently. When they deemed the Unreal one to be more standard, he decided to switch allegiances (although Unreal did not end up working out).
The group eventually was filled out with 16-year-old Lance Bass, with the other boys nicknaming him "Lansten" to keep their name consistent.
