"Gone" is a song by American

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

NSYNC NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, ...

. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, ''

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'' (2001). The band first performed the song on

PopOdyssey PopOdyssey was the fourth concert tour by American boy band NSYNC. Sponsored by Verizon Wireless and Chili's, the tour promoted the band's fourth studio album, ''Celebrity (album), Celebrity''. The tour's name is defined as "an adventurous journe ...

during mid-2001, and it was sent to US radio on August 21, 2001. The physical release of the single did not occur until October 15, 2001, when a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

was issued in Australia. It is the first NSYNC single where

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

sings all lead vocals. The song was nominated at the

44th Annual Grammy Awards The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for " Fallin'". U2 won fo ...

for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, but lost to U2's "

Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the second track on their tenth studio album, '' All That You Can't Leave Behind'' (2000), and was released as the album's second single on 29 January 2001. The ban ...

Background and composition

"Gone" was initially written by

and

Wade Robson Wade Jeremy William Robson (born 17 September 1982) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. He began performing as a dancer at age five, and has directed music videos and world tours for pop acts such as NSYNC and Britney Spears. Robson was ...

for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

in 2001. However, Jackson passed on the song, which allowed Timberlake to introduce it in an A&R meeting for NSYNC's next album, ''

''. It was the first song Timberlake cut on his own, as he brought it to the group to record together. Jackson eventually changed his mind and requested to be featured on the song as a duet; however, the song was already released, and the two could not find a way to revamp it. In an interview with

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

, Timberlake expressed, " ichaelwas very absolute about the fact that he wanted it to be a duet between himself and I." In an interview with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'',

JC Chasez Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez (; born August 8, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He started his career as a singer, actor, and dancer on '' The All-New Mickey Mouse Club'' before rising to prominence as a ...

described the song's significance on the group: Gone"is about as raw as it gets. It's just us and a beat-box, with just a tiny accent of acoustic guitar and violin. That song is a proud moment for us; it really shows how tight we are as a group." Timberlake got the idea for the song when his then-girlfriend

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

went to the hair salon and did not return for hours. The song and music video were notable departures for the group; previous NSYNC singles always had verses divided between lead vocalists Timberlake and Chasez, and in earlier music videos each group member had a storyline. "Gone" has Timberlake singing both verses as well as the bridge, runs, and ad libs. He is also the focus of the accompanying music video, with Timberlake getting mostly solo footage while his bandmates appear together separately. The song is set in the key of

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

and

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: Cha ...

(recorded in

B major B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equi ...

and

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

) at 56 bpm.

Critical reception

Jason Lipshutz of ''Billboard'' stated that the song established "Timberlake as a solo artist long before he was actually a solo artist, and remains one of his very best singles to date." In 2018, ''Billboard'' staff ranked the song 24 on their list "The 100 Greatest

Boy Band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Songs of All Time," writing, "the bridge is downright surreal, as the sparse beat drops out entirely, the meter all but dissolves, and the five members sound like they're swarming Timberlake's subconscious, until he breaks out for a final chorus of masterful ad libs. But it all comes back to that one word: harrowing, relentless and unmistakably final." In 2015, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' staff ranked it as the 37th greatest boy band song of all time.

Chart performance

"Gone" peaked at number eleven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on November 13, 2001. It also reached number fourteen on the Hip Hop/R&B Airplay charts, becoming the only pop boy band to chart there. The single also hit number 27 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart. It also reached number 28 in Canada, number 24 in the UK, and number 43 in Sweden.

Music video

The music video for "Gone" was directed by

Herb Ritts Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on b ...

and filmed in August 2001. It debuted on ''TRL'' on September 26, 2001. The video is shot in black-and-white, but opens and closes with sepia-toned scenes of a

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

depicting Timberlake as a Charlie Chaplin-esque figure who tries to woo his love interest. The main part of the video depicts Timberlake singing in an empty house with his bandmates. Scenes of the group singing are intercut with Timberlake's flashbacks to happier times with a former girlfriend, played by Croatian model Korina Longin. These flashbacks include Timberlake celebrating his girlfriend's birthday at a party with NSYNC, painting his girlfriend's toenails, gifting her a necklace, and rolling around in the grass kissing. "Gone" was the first NSYNC video to center on Timberlake, with Jon O'Brien of ''Billboard'' writing, "Herb Ritts' brooding monochrome promo highlighted even further how much Timberlake had outgrown his bandmates." As Timberlake would go on to launch a successful solo career the following year, writers have noted the music video foreshadowed the band's future and Timberlake's solo ascent. The video became *NSYNC's tenth number 1 video for ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

''. The video received spins on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'', making NSYNC the only all-white group to ever get rotation on the show. "Gone" was nominated for Video of the Year at the

2002 MTV Video Music Awards The 2002 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 29, 2002, honoring the best music videos from June 9, 2001, to May 31, 2002. The show was hosted by Jimmy Fallon at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. During the show, Michael Jackson a ...

, but lost to " Without Me" by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

Live performances

"Gone" was performed live at the 2001 ''Billboard'' Music Awards, the

2002 Grammy Awards The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for " Fallin'". U2 won fo ...

, and during the band's set at a

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

concert, in addition to the group's

and

tour shows. Justin Timberlake has also sang the song solo on his Justified Tour and The 20/20 Experience World Tour. The group sang the opening bars of "Gone" at the beginning of their reunion medley at the

2013 MTV Video Music Awards The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 25, 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Marking the 30th installment of the award show, they were the first to be held in New York City not to use a venue within the borough of ...

where Timberlake was awarded the

Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, is a merit given to Musician, recording artists and music video directors at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), a ceremony that was established in 1984. It is presented by MTV for "outstanding contributi ...

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Recording * Recorded at Westlake Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA Personnel *

– songwriter, producer, arranger, multi instruments * Wade J. Robson – songwriter, producer, arranger, multi instruments * Alan Armitage – recording * Kevin Guarnieri – assistant recording engineer *

Peter Mokran Peter Mokran is an American mixer, producer, engineer, and musician. Early life Mokran was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up, he studied classical guitar, while also learning engineering and programming as a teen.Paul Tingen“ ...

– mixing * Tony Flores – assistant mixing engineer * Chris Haggerty – digital editing * Robin Wiley – string arrangement * Yasu – strings recording * Jeremy Welch – assistant strings recording engineer * The Hampton String Quartet – strings performer * Michael Thompson – guitars * Michael A. Lang – piano

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2000s ballads 2001 songs 2001 singles NSYNC songs Aventura (band) songs Jive Records singles Pop ballads Contemporary R&B ballads Music videos directed by Herb Ritts Black-and-white music videos Songs written by Justin Timberlake Song recordings produced by Justin Timberlake Soul ballads Torch songs