This Is Why Justin Left 'N SYNC

It was an exciting weekend for boy band fans. On Sunday, Justin Timberlake was on Oprah's Master Class and he talked about his decision to leave N'Sync and embark on a solo career in 2002. He apparently came to realize that he wanted to go solo, drawing what seems to be a natural and understandable conclusion, saying, "I would wake up every morning feeling more and more of an urge to step out on my own." He continues, "It 's one of the best-slash-worst things that I have ever done [...] It was bittersweet. It was hard to kind of say goodbye to that era, but I felt it changing. I felt music changing, and I felt myself changing."

The "Suit and Tie" singer credits a phone conversation with Michael Jackson for providing him with the confidence and inspiration he was looking for when Timberlake was considering a solo career of his own.

Timberlake also discusses some of the backlash he faced over his choice to leave N'Sync, saying that "people didn't understand why he'd want to leave one of the biggest groups in the world." Despite an incident during the band's VMAs 2013 reunion in which he allegedly made last-minute cuts to his former bandmates' stage time, reportedly upsetting some members of the group, Timberlake has said the only thing he regrets of his time with N'Sync was that he thinks the band's outfits made him look "like a moron."

We can't argue with him on that one.

Though former N'Sync fan girls will forever mourn the day N'Sync disintegrated, and wonder how far N'Sync could have gone if Justin had stayed, I think we can all agree that he's in a better place now. Watch the video here: