Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009

JC Chasez performed with Michael Jackson three times as a member of 'N Sync.

You were always used to seeing Michael Jackson onstage and performing; it was a very different experience to be sitting on a couch, having a relaxed conversation [with him]. The guy was incredibly nice, gracious, wanted to make sure everyone had everything they wanted or needed. A wonderful host. People didn't necessarily look at him as a person; they looked at him as an action figure. We talked about music, because that was our common ground, but he was more interested about how we felt about what we were going through. Being popular and carrying a heavy workload — you get to the point where you're doing shows five and six days a week with travel and press between that. It's a lot, and nobody knew that better than him, because he had been doing it since he was 6 years old. (Watch TIME's video "Vigil At Michael Jackson's Hollywood Star.")

It's always chaos outside, but backstage, he was so gracious. He was happy that we were there and able to perform with him. [Backstage, 'N Sync could hear Jackson doing vocal drills in the dressing room next door.] They sounded ridiculous. They were like, "Gee gee gee gee gee gee." To hear that but with Michael Jackson's tone on, that quick vibrato at the end of every note, that was so crazy. It was great for me, as an artist, to see that. He was doing vocal drills for an hour before he went out. [His voice was] not something that magically appeared out of him; the guy worked hard for it. Forty years old, and the guy is warming up for an hour before every show. He wanted to give that audience the best he had. There are plenty of people who just go out and sing and let the first two songs warm them up. But he cared. He cared about every note that came out of his mouth when he was onstage. That's saying something.

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