Genuine Talent Despite Bad Rap Some Young Performers Get, They’Re Professionals And They’Re Here To Stay

Sometimes you can’t hear the boy band for the squealing.

While you know about the record-breaking album sales, the millions in concert grosses, the court cases and dating gossip, it might come as a surprise that there could be genuine talent in the teen-pop phenomenon.

“A lot of these people get a bad rap but these kids can really sing,” says songwriter Diane Warren, who has penned hits for Christina Aguilera, ‘N Sync and Britney Spears. “I was in the studio with ‘N Sync and they sing their (heads) off. I was there for every second of the process and there’s no endless fine-tuning and retakes. And Christina sings as good as anybody. These are really professional artists who work really hard and they’ve been working that hard since they were even smaller.”

There’s nothing new about teens having hits and chalking up mad airplay. You can trace the craze back to the early ‘50s when 13-year-old Frankie Lymon stood on street corners, harmonizing “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” with friends. A little later came the Monkees, Debbie Gibson and New Kids on the Block. Today’s mega-selling teens who rule the charts and your preteen’s bedroom walls include Spears, Aguilera, ‘N Sync, Westlife, Jessica Simpson, the Backstreet Boys, ATeens, Five, LFO, 98 Degrees and Youngstown.

And they’re not going away.

“I think everyone’s taking the whole thing a little wrong,” ‘N Sync’s Lance Bass, 22, said. “As much as there are teen bands, there’s the same amount of rock bands, r&b groups, solo acts. A lot of older people in the music industry are a little jealous it’s working.”

Working isn’t the half of it. Since its release, ‘N Sync’s sophomore effort, “No Strings Attached,” clung onto the No. 1 spot in the albums chart for more than two months only to be knocked off by Spears’ just-issued second album, “Oops!…I Did It Again,” which recently broke all records for the largest first-week sales of a female solo album at 1.3 million.

In its first week, “No Strings Attached” sold more than 2.4 million copies, the strongest week of sales by any artist in history - almost double the total of the previous record holder (Backstreet Boys).

‘N Sync appeared at the Rose Bowl with Sisqo (“Thong Song”) and Pink (“There You Go”). More than 1 million tickets worth about $40 million were sold across the country the day tour dates went on sale.

“We couldn’t dream of having a goal like that,” ‘N Sync’s Joey Fatone, 23, said. “The fans broke the record. A lot of people are interested because of what we’re about and the music we stand for. It’s not like we’re just trying to throw something together to sell the album. We really do put our blood, sweat and tears into it.”