Chris

Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick was born on 17th October 1971 in Clarion, Pennsylvania and it seems every member of Chris's family is musical (he can count jazzy-singing aunts and country and western-singing grandfathers amongst his relatives) so it was pretty much inevitable that he would enter show business. His mother (herself a voice teacher) claims he could sing before he could even talk. A natural performer as a child he was soon entertaining any time he got the opportunity.

Chris's father died suddenly when Chris was a child and his mother Beverly eventually remarried and had four other children - Molly, Kate, Emily and Taylor - Chris's half-sisters and half-brother. He grew up with this large family in Dayton, Ohio.

While at school Chris really concentrated on music, taking roles in musicals like 'Oliver' and 'South Pacific' and learning a wide range of musical instruments including trombone, keyboard and guitar. After finishing high school this brown-haired young man earned an associate of arts degree from Valencia College in Dayton, Ohio then moved to Rollins College in Ohio in order to get first class training as a dancer and singer at this well-known college. To keep his head financially above water Chris had to take casual work (including singing in various groups including a Caroling Company) until he eventually ended up at Universal Studios as a doo-wop singer where he was to meet Joey Fatone and later Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez who were working together on the Mickey Mouse Club. The pressures of starting *NSYNC and completing his college education proved too much and Chris dropped out of college to give *NSYNC (now with Lance Bass onboard) his 100% attention.

Despite the enormous success Chris has enjoyed with *NSYNC he remains down-to-earth. Thanks in part to the other guys in the band and to grounding effect of his family. "I also believe in karma," he says, "That's why we treat everyone with respect, because the people you meet are the same people you meet on the way down. We treat everyone equally."

Chris is a very spontaneous person and looks for honesty and loyalty in potential girlfriends. Beauty is only skin-deep and he knows that personality is far more important than good looks. Chris is also a deeply moral person and believes in giving as much back as possible - which means with *NSYNC'S enormous success he is keen to do as much charity work as possible. Chris is also spokesperson for Child Watch of North America (www.childwatch.org ), a role he hopes will "raise awareness among children and teens of how to avoid the risks of abduction." He loves the job he has with *NSYNC and can't really believe his luck that he gets to travel the world with a group of friends doing the one thing he really loves - being a performer.

Chris is a huge fan of Bruce Lee, the actor famous for his karate films. Posters of his idol decorate his room and, of course, like the other guys he is an enthusiastic sports fan. His favorite sport is hockey but like every other American boy he also loves to play basketball.

His success and fame with *NSYNC has also given Chris the chance to start his own clothing, visual art and music production firm - FuMan Skeeto(www.fumanskeeto.com). "We were in a hotel room and there was this mosquito on the floor who looked like he had a Fu Manchu moustache," he explains, "We all started laughing and joking, and before you knew it, we were calling him Fumansquito. Then, when it came time for me to name my company, I remembered our name for the mosquito. We're not going to be a clothing line that comes and tells people what to wear. This is more people telling US what they like and what they wish they could have. I'm very hands-on. I don't actually sit down and draw things up, but I know what I like. I know what's comfortable for me, and a lot of stuff I do is for *NSYNC fans also."

Chris is possibly the most sensitive of the five boys. When he's not acting the fool, his expressive brown eyes often look sad. Thanks to his individuality even far away from the stage he is relatively easy to make out. You only have to look for the group member who looks somehow different from the others. For Chris *NSYNC and their music is all about fun and although he hopes the success will continue for a long time he takes each day as it comes, setting goals for himself and keeping optimistic.