Chris Kirkpatrick, singer/N*SYNC member

[morty]

Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick (age 50) is an American singer, dancer, songwriter, music producer, and occasional actor, who is best known for his work as the founding member of the pop group NSYNC, in which he sang countertenor. He has appeared on numerous TV shows and provided the voice for Chip Skylark on The Fairly OddParents. He also guest-starred on The Simpsons as himself, along with his fellow NSYNC bandmates, in the episode "New Kids on the Blecch".

 

In 1994, while working at Universal Studios and singing in The Hollywood Hi-Tones (a throwback doo-wop group of aspiring singers and actors) Chris Kirkpatrick was introduced to Lou Pearlman through a mutual friend that he had met in choir (Charlie Edwards). Edwards had briefly been a part of the Backstreet Boys before quitting, and had heard that Pearlman was interested in financing another vocal group, so he passed the information to Chris.

 

Originally, when the Backstreet Boys were forming Chris didn't know about their auditions so he never got the chance to try out. However, Chris said that was okay because at the time he preferred arranging 4-part and 5-part harmonies with a cappella groups rather than singing to tracks. But after hearing about what Lou Pearlman was doing with the Backstreet Boys (he was acquainted with Howie Dorough), Chris became more interested in doing something besides a cappella. When Pearlman finally met Chris and saw him perform in his doo-wop group, Lou immediately took an interest in him and his talent, so they discussed the idea for Chris to form a vocal group, of which Pearlman promised to finance if Chris could find other talented young singers to join him.

 

Kirkpatrick took the opportunity and made some calls, eventually finding Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez (members of the 1990s Mickey Mouse Club revival), and the three formed the nucleus of NSYNC. Later, they found Joey Fatone who was also working at Universal Studios at the time. After some difficulty finding a consistent bass singer, the group eventually found Lance Bass through Justin's vocal coach, and the group collectively came together in September 1995. The group all moved into a house together and began practicing their singing and choreography in a hot warehouse in Orlando for hours everyday to help train their vocals and stamina. Shortly after Lance joined the group, they recorded their first ever performance at Pleasure Island in Orlando as their demo for record companies. Afterward, Chris dropped out of Rollins College to pursue a music career with NSYNC in Germany.

 

NSYNC

 

With his group, Chris Kirkpatrick sold over 70 million records worldwide during their height of success in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Kirkpatrick sang countertenor/soprano and lead in various songs including "Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)" (US version), "Together Again", "I Thought She Knew", "Just Got Paid", and many songs from their Christmas album.

 

NSYNC first released music and began touring in Europe in 1996, releasing their self-titled debut album in Germany on May 26, 1997. The album was released internationally on March 24, 1998, which sold 11 million copies and became popular in the United States after appearing on their Disney Channel in Concert special. After the band had a series of financial and legal struggles with their manager, Lou Pearlman, they were finally freed from their contracts in 1999 and signed with Jive Records.

 

Their sophomore album, No Strings Attached, was released on March 21, 2000 and sold a record 2.42 million copies in its first week alone, shattering the Backstreet Boys' record at the time and remaining the record for 15 years for the most records sold in a day and most records sold in a week until it was broken by Adele's 25. By the end of 2000, No Strings Attached had sold over 9.9 million copies and was named the best-selling album of the year, and the second-best selling album of the decade in the US behind The Beatles' 1.

 

NSYNC's third album, Celebrity, was released on July 24, 2001, and produced three hit singles: "Pop", "Gone", and "Girlfriend". Celebrity sold 1.87 million copies in its first week, making it the second-fastest-selling album in SoundScan history at the time, only behind the group's previous album No Strings Attached. The Celebrity album featured heavy creative involvement from the group, who wrote and produced many of their own tracks.

 

After the group's Celebrity Tour and nearly seven years together as a group, NSYNC announced in April 2002 that they would be taking a much-needed hiatus, and each member of the group began venturing into their own solo projects. Although NSYNC never officially broke up, they have not reunited to release new music since, and there have been mixed responses from members as to whether a reunion would ever happen. NSYNC's last official performance was at the Grammys in 2003 during their Bee Gees medley tribute. In August 2013, NSYNC briefly came together for a short performance at the MTV Video Music Awards during Justin's Video Vanguard Award performance. In April 2019, NSYNC reunited (without Justin Timberlake) for a special one-night performance as part of Ariana Grande's headlining set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

 

Solo music

 

After NSYNC disbanded, Kirkpatrick started working on several musical side projects, including writing and singing lead for his rock band, called Nigel's 11 (also written as Nigels 11 or Nigels11). Nigel's 11 is an American alternative rock band officially formed in Florida in 2007 by Chris Kirkpatrick, and consists of Chris Kirkpatrick (lead vocalist), Mike Bosch (guitar), Dave Carreiro (bass), and Ernie Longoria (drums). The band was originally called The Little Red Monsters and Kirkpatrick debuted their first songs at the April Fool's Ball in 2004 before the group's name and lineup changed.

 

Nigel's 11 began working towards an album in 2009 and released their first album, called Clandestine Operation, independently in 2010. The album featured five original songs: "Who Am I?", "All The Way Around", "Mr. Jealousy", "Get Out", and "Crazy Girl". The songs from Clandestine Operation focused heavily on themes of overcoming personal struggles and issues of self-identity, with the most well-known song being "Who Am I?". Kirkpatrick stated that his band's sound was influenced by various 1970s and 1980s rock groups that he admired such as ELO, Queen, and Boston.

 

Nigel's 11 also made a number of other songs that were not included on their debut album, but were released either online or at live shows, including "All She Wrote", "Say You Will", "Tokyo", "Jodi's Song", "Everybody Gets Lost", and "My World". Some of their music was also included in the soundtrack for A Christmas Snow, and included an original song, called "All Alone", as well as a punk rock remix of a traditional Christmas song, "O Come, All Ye Faithful".

 

In addition to his solo music, Chris Kirkpatrick also became involved in voice acting, providing his unique voice for the famous popstar character Chip Skylark on the animated television series The Fairly OddParents on Nickelodeon. Having appeared in numerous episodes spanning from 2002 to 2009, his character developed a significant fan following with songs such as "Find Your Voice", "Icky Vicky", and his most popular song "My Shiny Teeth & Me".

 

Kirkpatrick has mostly preferred to stay out of the limelight since NSYNC, but in 2007 he reluctantly agreed to star in the reality show Mission Man Band as a favor to a friend, alongside Bryan Abrams of Color Me Badd, Jeff Timmons of 98°, and the late Rich Cronin of LFO. The show was about former boyband members of the 1990s striving for another shot at success and debuted on August 7, 2007. Kirkpatrick hosted the show at his Orlando house, and the guys formed the supergroup "man band" called Sureshot in which they recorded three original songs, including "Story Of My Life", "Withoutcha", and "Work That Out" and performed at local sporting events, charities, and fairs. The show's last episode aired on January 1, 2008.

 

In April 2008, it was announced that Kirkpatrick would be a part of the second season of CMT's show Gone Country. Kirkpatrick participated in Gone Country with other cast members: Sebastian Bach, Irene Cara (one episode), Mikalah Gordon, Jermaine Jackson, Lorenzo Lamas, and Sean Young. The show was hosted by John Rich of the country duo Big & Rich. During the show, for which each contestant had to prepare and perform an original song, Kirkpatrick had one of the strongest songs of the competition with "That'll Get Ya By". He dedicated his performance to his mother, who he said: "held the family together". Kirkpatrick impressed many country fans when he stepped on stage and proved he had the writing skills and voice to be a successful country artist.

 

The prize of having a record produced by John Rich and the promise of play from Kix Brooks on his radio show went to Sebastian Bach. However, John Rich congratulated Kirkpatrick on his success and told him he had one of the best songs in the competition and that he could see it going number one as a country hit. The second-season last show episode aired on September 26, 2008.

 

He is a houseguest in the third season of Celebrity Big Brother, which will begin on February 2, 2022.

 

Besides television, Kirkpatrick has done some minor acting in sci-fi films such as Sharknado 3 where he played a lifeguard, and Dead 7 where he played the role of Mayor Shelby.