Justin Timberlake was 'growing out' of *NSYNC

8 February 2017

Justin Timberlake left *NSYNC because he felt he was "growing out of it".

Justin Timberlake

The 'Can't Stop The Feeling' hitmaker decided to "follow his heart" and leave the boy band - which also included JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and Lance Bass - so he could launch his own solo career.

Speaking about the split, he said: "We were on a stadium tour, and I just felt like the whole thing was too big. It started as a fun snowball fight that was becoming an avalanche.

"And, also, I was growing out of it. I felt like I cared more about the music than some of the other people in the group. And I felt like I had other music I wanted to make and that I needed to follow my heart."

And the 36-year-old singer - who has 22-month-old son Silas with his wife Jessica Biel - opened up about being on the road at a young age, admitting he "can't really remember not being famous".

He told The Hollywood Reporter magazine: "I was about 15 or 16 years old. We'd just given a concert in Germany at a festival on this huge field. And we were in the tour bus afterward, driving on a dirt road, and I looked out the window and saw all these young, impressionable females running after the bus.

"I think we can all agree that I did not have a normal childhood ... I have some faint images from my childhood but no, I can't really remember not being famous."

Meanwhile, Justin previously revealed his son "shaped" his hit single 'Can't Stop The Feeling'.

He said: "I'd be leaving out the whole truth if I didn't say having him shaped what the song actually is. [Having a child] gives you a different insight. It's like 'The Matrix,' man. You open a door and there's this whole other world on the other side of it. And you look back through the door at the other world and you're like, 'What was I doing there?'"