Jumping on that “Bye Bye Bye” resurgence, Justin Timberlake is planning to say Hi Hi Hi to his NSYNC bandmates for a 30th anniversary project.
Nearly a month after the pop star’s DWI case wrapped up with a plea deal, resulting in him pleading guilty to the lesser charge of driving while ability impaired, the 43-year-old musician is on a mission to clean up his image. And the best to do that? Treat your fans to an explosive nostalgia package.
The “Mirrors” hitmaker is reportedly on board for a full-fledged reunion with the other four singers of the hit ‘90s boy band: JS Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick. Sources told The US Sun that the “I Want You Back” team is “closer than ever” to sealing the deal on an epic live comeback show. Speculations around the NSYNC reunion had barely taken off the ground, and offers from MGM Resorts and Resorts World started pouring in. However, the five-member band isn’t a big fan of taking the stage for a Las Vegas residency.
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What kind of NSYNC reunion plans are on the table?
First, the quintet hopes to film and sell their teased live comeback show to a streaming network. They are not averse to recording a new album, either. A documentary chronicling their chart-topping success as indispensable pop hitmakers in the 90s is also on the cards. “There are a lot of proposals on the table but one major idea is that they put together a docuseries about their journey,” the NSYNC insider said. “All of them would come together and talk about their experiences in the band.”
While the sudden news flash about a potential NSYNC reunion with Justin Timberlake will instantly incite suspicions about why the pop star hopes to revisit his boy band roots despite a two-decade-spanning solo career, it’s no surprise that he has maintained close ties with his old bandmates. The NSYNC insider insisted that Lance and Chris were the “driving forces” behind the plans brewing in the background. They’ve supposedly also jumped into tentative conversations with Timberlake about what the ultimate comeback could entail.
2024 has already been a big hit for NSYNC: Reunion talks were inevitable
Even apart from this being seen as a strategic move to clean up JT’s image after his DWI arrest, now is the perfect time for the band to get back together. Earlier this year, the pop band dealt out a big shocker as all five members reunited at the “Suit & Tie” crooner’s one-night-only concert at The Wiltern in Los Angeles ahead of his sixth solo album Everything I Thought It Was’ March release.
Cut to July, Marvel Cinematic Universe’s record-breaking R-rated blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine took global theatres by storm, in parts thanks to the opening credits featuring the band’s massive hit “Bye Bye Bye.” More than 20 years ago, the song dropped as one of the highlights of the band’s third studio album, ‘No Strings Attached,’ but in 2024, it earned a new birth with the TikTok generation as “Bye Bye Bye” ultimately got rebranded as the iconic Deadpool & Wolverine OST.
Now that the music act has multiple generations dancing to its signature choreography, it almost seems like these stepping stones have led up to the massive comeback in the making. “Justin told the others that he is committed to a project next year to make the big 30,” the band’s source added, who also emphasised that the other guys have “always known that a major reunion should happen.”
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An NSYNC docuseries could dig up all the decades-old showbiz dirt
Band members are potentially also circling the docuseries plans, which would offer them the ideal space to open up numerous chapters of “untold stories and secrets to spill.”
“It is not just all about Justin and his dramas… The revelations that the boys are sitting on are huge.”
The latter bit could especially stick the landing, considering “NSYNC’s story is vast, controversial, and features interactions with many A-listers with so many inside details to be spilled.”
One of these never-heard-before tidbits recently made headlines amid Diddy’s ongoing sex trafficking probe. During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Lance Bass recalled the disgraced music mogul once for them on their final tour in 2001. “No, I never had time to go a Diddy party,” the NSYNC member replied when asked to spill dirty details about Sean Combs’ notoriously infamous parties. “I forgot he opened for us on our last tour until all this kinda came about but yeah, it’s kinda horrible,” he added.
Lance further dropped a bombshell, “I never kinda liked him because [at] our very last show in Orlando, I overheard him talking to Justin [Timberlake] being like, ‘you need to drop these ——-. You need to go solo,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t like you anymore, Diddy.”
Other issues like the group’s late manager Lou Pearlman’s criminal case, Justin’s obvious ages-old fated love story with Britney Spears and even the conversation around Lance Bass’ sexuality would make for instant go-to points of attraction.
Anyhow, the source maintained, “Justin could do with some good press too after the last year of being thrown under the bus by Britney and his driving issue.”
“Certainly there is much love from the fanbase to spark interest in their music having a big comeback for a new generation.”
Regardless of where the train is headed, the insider agreed that an epic group reunion would ultimately overshadow the contentious speculations around the members. With “something major” in sight, “a lot of those controversies will be forgotten,” the source opined.