I hadn’t planned to use this blog for anything other than a backup for Instagram but since I have the space I thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Nicole and I’m the “her” with the riddle on my mind. I’m not a professional archivist, librarian, or researcher. I’m an *NSYNC fan of varying levels of enthusiasm and interest since 1998. And as of last year I’m someone who realized that I didn’t know much about how *NSYNC broke up. I know that in an interview Justin said Lance started the hiatus. After reading Out of Sync I know Lance claims Justin initiated the discussion of taking a hiatus. And I also know that the other 3 members of the group haven’t really mentioned any singular person or situation as the cause for the group’s eventual break-up. So where does that leave me as a fan? It leaves me on JC Chasez’s internet searching for whatever bits of info I can organize to figure out what happened.
Riddle On Her Mind was born from a discussion among some *NSYNC fans. Shortly after the 20th anniversary of No Strings Attached, Entertainment Tonight Canada published this article by Leena Taylor https://etcanada.com/news/614260/did-lance-bass-astronaut-and-acting-aspirations-break-up-nsync/ While it was interesting to see what former Jive employees had to say about the breakup it still came down to a basic idea that had been floated before: the group’s split was precipitated by Lance’s desire to do things outside of the group. I didn’t completely buy that explanation but without more information about what happened I couldn’t decide if it was legit or not. Leena’s article contains small excerpts from Out of Sync and I started by reading the whole book to see if I could get a better sense of what happened. (It didn’t help very much but I’d still say Out of Sync is worth reading.)
My interests were already piqued, so I started Googling *NSYNC news from 2002 to see what I could find. That first search turned into a few hours spent in a rabbit hole, which eventually turned into a small collection of bookmarked links. After months of digging and talking with other fans I decided to bite the bullet and start Riddle On Her Mind. ROHM where I can catalog my findings in a place that’s easily accessible to me and anyone else who might be trying to figure out how *NSYNC broke up.
Since *NSYNC rarely reunites for anything and there haven’t been any scandals or fights to draw a lot public interest I know the number of people who’ll take interest in my research will be extremely small. But for those who are curious enough to look I think they’ll find enough information from different sources to draw their own conclusions. I decided at the outset that I’d refrain from promoting my own opinions about the content the sources I’ve found and that’s still my intention. However, after starting this WordPress blog I’ve decided that I’ll occasionally use this space to share my reflections and musings about the research process. I’ll also be answering any questions my followers have about the research. I’ll still be updating the ROHM instagram first and foremost but I look forward to using this WordPress space for piecing together my thoughts while I piece together the *NSYNC puzzle.
Riddle On Her Mind 