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Live nation, aeg bidding on *nsync reunion stadium tour after fan demand, *nsync live nation, aeg bidding on reunion stadium tour.

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*NSYNC's appearances over the last year have stirred up so much excitement that two major tour promoters are bidding on a possible reunion stadium tour ... convinced the group could pack stadiums and be one for the history books.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... both Live Nation and AEG have thrown their hats in the ring, reaching out to the members of the popular boy band just a couple weeks ago to let the guys know they're down to explore the idea of a tour.

NSYNC

We're told their interest was piqued, especially after witnessing the love and support the group received last year when they reunited for a song in the latest 'Trolls' movie.

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Our sources say the buzz surrounding their 2023 MTV VMAs appearance and their surprise cameo at Justin Timberlake 's L.A. show in March was the icing on the cake for the promoters.

Our sources say both promoters have presented the group with some serious financial numbers, although they would not be specific.

'NSYNC Shots

Our sources say the group is mulling over the offers, but we're told no decisions are close to being made. If the reunion stadium tour were to happen, it wouldn't be until 2025.

NSYNC -- Old School Looks

Lance Bass and Joey Fatone have been expressing their enthusiasm for a reunion. Remember, JT is currently focused on his solo music endeavors with his new album and 2024 tour, which doesn't wrap until December.

Stay tuned ...

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Is NSYNC Going on Tour? Justin Timberlake Reunites the Band for First Performance in 10 Years

J.T. gave Los Angeles fans the surprise of their lives when he brought out the members of NSYNC during his latest concert. Find out if they're going on tour together.

nsync, justin timberlake, jc chasez, lance bass, chris kirkpatrick, joey fatone

NSYNC fans rejoice! The beloved boy band reunited for their first performance since 2013 during his latest Los Angeles concert on March 13, 2024. Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass , Joey Fatone,   and  Chris Kirkpatrick brought the crowd to tears as they sang some of their biggest hits, like “Bye Bye Bye,” “It’s Gonna Be Me,” “Girlfriend” and their latest single “Paradise.” Last year, the group dropped “Better Place” as part of the Trolls Band Together  soundtrack on September 29, 2023. While it’s not certain what other projects will come of the reunion, it’s certainly exciting to seesinging together again. Not only that, but the band collaborated on the song titled “Paradise” on Justin’s 2024 album, Everything I Thought I Was .

Along with the new music, fans are clamoring to see the boy band take the stage again! It’s been over a decade since the group’s last musical reunion, and it’s been even longer since their last full-blown tour. Lance did hint that there was some hope for an NSYNC reunion in an appearance in the online game show Rent Free .  Hollywood Life has all the details for you, below.

The full moment leading up to @NSYNC coming out 😭😭😭 I’m not ok pic.twitter.com/YTQyG7mlJ1 — 🪩 Ashley 🪩 (@ashleyhollabakk) March 14, 2024

NSYNC Reunite for New Music

Reports that NSYNC had gotten back in the studio for the new song had surfaced back in August. Before announcing the track, the boy band took the stage at the 2023 MTV VMAs to present   Taylor Swift   with the Best Pop award. “Over 20 years ago, we were just kids when we won Best Pop Video for ‘Bye Bye Bye.’ It was our first VMA, and it meant the world to us. It validated our hard work,” Justin said at the start of the presentation.

Ahead of the official track announcement, the band had lip-synced along to the audio from a Friends  scene asking “Do you know something?” It was later revealed that “Better Place” would be a part of the  Trolls Band Together  soundtrack. Snippets of the band singing the new track can be heard in the trailer . Justin voices the Branch character in the movie.

Justin also dropped the track list for his 2024 album, which includes one collab with NSYNC titled “Paradise.”

Is NSYNC Going on Tour?

While nothing official has been announced, Lance did hint that he hoped to have more to tell fans in the near future during the  Rent Free  appearance, per  Page Six .  “Look, we are talking about it — and I hope to have some good news, at some point,” he said when talking about the reunion.

Joey Fatone had spoken to Hollywood Life about the possibility of a reunion in an exclusive interview in November. He said that he hoped to have a definite answer for fans in the near future. “I don’t mind answering, because of the fact that hopefully soon, I will get an answer,” he said. “Whether it be yes, whether it be no, I hate saying, ‘I don’t know yet,’ but it is true.”

Joey also expressed some hope for a reunion so that his daughters could get to experience what the band was like. “My kids have never really seen me perform with NSYNC. So for people that are fans that grew up listening to us, I feel almost the same way. It sounds weird, but it is true because I want my kids to see what I did,” he said.

Earlier, Lance said that the quintet isn’t planning on a reunion tour, in an Entertainment Tonight   interview. As the interviewer mentioned that fans have been clamoring for a tour, he said that there’s nothing on the horizon. “Hopefully in a perfect world, that might happen one day, but again, no plans right now,” he said.

While there’s nothing set in stone, Lance did seem open to the idea. He admitted that the group were listening to the fans. “I’ve been telling the fans: we don’t have solid plans right now, because we’re waiting for the strike to end. We’ve got things to do, but they’re definitely shaping our future,” he told  ET. Ahead of Lance’s interview, a report from TMZ   said that they didn’t plan on touring, releasing an album, or doing a residency.

Most recently, Justin appeared on  The Kelly Clarkson Show   on January 30, 2024, and confirmed that he and his pals have been working on new music together. “And also as it pertains to harmonies… I’ve spent some time with four other guys doing a lot of harmonies,” he said during the talk show appearance.

J.T. also touched on their 2023 reunion. “That was fun,” he said to Kelly Clarkson . “It’s kind of crazy, like, there’s so much that just picks up right where it left off as far as the chemistry.” Additionally, Justin reassured NSYNC fans that something is coming soon. “We’ve been in the studio, so there may be a little something in the future, too,” he added. Despite the exciting tease, Justin did not reveal if he and his bandmates will release a new album or if they will head on tour this year.

Less than two months later, Justin invited his bandmates to perform with him during a concert in L.A., fueling rumors that there could possibly be a tour in the near future. Nevertheless, they haven’t confirmed the rumors.

Earlier NSYNC Reunions

While NSYNC split up in 2005, the boy band has gotten together on a handful of occasions over the years for both musical and non-musical reunions. When Justin earned the Video Vanguard award at the 2013 MTV VMAs, the group was part of his medley performance, singing “Girlfriend” and “Bye Bye Bye.”  When the group was given a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2018, they all got together for the ceremony and appeared on Ellen  together.

The group has also had a few occasions that they’ve had partial reunions. All of the members except Justin joined  Ariana Grande   on stage for her 2019 headline set at Coachella, where they sang her song “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” and their own “Tearin’ Up My Heart.” In April 2022, Joey, Lance, and Chris gave an impromptu performance at Ryan Cabrera   and  Alexa Bliss’  wedding.

When Was the Last Time NSYNC Toured?

While there have been a handful of performances since the group split up, the boy band’s final tour was in 2002 to promote their album Celebrity. The tour ended in April 2002, and the band began a hiatus, which they never returned from. The members’ final appearance as NSYNC was in 2005 at the “Challenge for the Children,” but they didn’t perform. They released a greatest hits album that same year.

While the band has not toured together in over 20 years, Justin has set out on numerous tours as a solo artist. His most recent time on the road was in 2019 for his  The Man of the Woods  tour. 

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*NSYNC’s Joey Fatone and Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean Hitting Road Together for 2024 Legendary Night Tour

The eight-date outing is slated to kick off on March 15 in Temecula, Calif.

By Gil Kaufman

Gil Kaufman

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Joey Fatone and AJ McLean

Joey Fatone and AJ McLean are crossing over. The *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys members announced on Tuesday (Jan. 9) that they are hitting the road together in March for an eight-date joint tour they’ve dubbed A Legendary Night.

Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake and Joey Fatone, NSYNC, Trolls Band Together

*NSYNC, AJ McLean, Camila Cabello & More: All the Stars at the ‘Trolls Band Together…

In a post announcing the one-of-a-kind outing, Fatone wrote, “This is going to be fun!!!! @aj_mclean my dude … here we go!!!!,” with the BSB singer responding, “LEGENDARY [sign of the horns emoji].

Trending on Billboard

According to a release from promoter Live Nation, the tour will find the old friends teaming up to perform choreo, their beloved 1990s and early 2000s hits accompanied by a seven-piece band and “intimate conversations of never-before-told stories from their time on the road.” The singers, both 46, booked the tour after performing together at a gig dubbed “Joey Fatone & Friends — Welcome to Tampa 90s Party” in September; they also previously shared the stage in 2021 during Fatone’s “The AFTR PRTY” Las Vegas residency, which featured the *NSYNC member performing with McLean, Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) and McLean’s BSB bandmate, Nick Carter.

In an Instagram Live chat hyping the tour on Tuesday, Fatone promised fans that the new dates will be a “crazy” twist on the previous team-ups, with plenty of songs from both men’s groups, as well as some tracks “that never really hit on albums or records” and some throwback 90s tracks. The show will also include a “wheel of songs” segment in which they’ll spin and sing different tracks ecah night. “Obviously a blast a lot of fun,” Fatone promised.

“You guys are in for one hell of a show,” McLean added, noting that fans will know “every song,” while teasing that he will also be performing a couple of his new tracks.

Check out the “A Legendary Night” tour announcement, teaser video and dates below.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joey Fatone (@realjoeyfatone)

March 15 – Temecula, CA @ Pechanga Theatre

March 16 – Rancho Mirage, CA @ The Show at Agua Caliente

March 21 – Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Oakdale Theatre

March 22 – Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues

March 23 – Newark, NJ @ New Jersey Performing Arts Center

March 28 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ AuRene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts

March 29 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live

March 30 – Jacksonville, FL @ Florida Theatre

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The NSYNC Reunion Tour Has Reportedly Kicked Off An Impressive Bidding War Among The Industry’s Biggest Promoters

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Since their musical reunion (“ Better Place “) for Trolls Band Together soundtrack and subsequent in-person appearance at the 2023 MTV VMAs , fans have been experiencing NSYNC fever. However, with member Justin Timberlake focused on his latest album, Everything I Thought It Was , and forthcoming The Forget Tomorrow World Tour , they’ve only had a few minor run-ins since then.

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show , Timberlake hinted that more music from the group would come. But according to TMZ , there is so much more up the group’s sleeves. The outlet reports that the highly anticipated NSYNC reunion tour could be a reality. Sources close to the matter claim that not only is the group on board, but the proposed arena tour kicked off a bidding war.

Supposedly, two of the industry’s biggest event promoters, Live Nation and AEG, have contacted the group to get a feel for how committed they are to the idea of a massive tour. The sourced claims the tour would come with an impressive payout to each of the members. However, those close to business dealings haven’t disclosed any specifics.

With Timberlake’s tour set to wrap up in July, the group has ample time to comb over the offers before making a final decision. As for when the reunion tour will kick off, that detail are still being worked out. Again, TMZ ‘s insider says that if NSYNC does agree to a deal, the shows won’t take place until well into 2025.

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Joey Fatone Reveals Where *NSYNC Really Stands on a Reunion Tour

*nsync's joey fatone exclusively revealed to e news how likely he, justin timberlake, chris kirkpatrick, jc chasez and lance bass are to go on tour together again..

*NSYNC isn't saying bye, bye, bye to the possibility of a tour quite yet. 

But as Joey Fatone explained, getting his fellow alums Justin Timberlake , JC Chasez , Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass back on the road together for the first time in 20 years is easier said than done. 

"The five of us need to get together to have that conversation to say yes or no," he told E! News' Francesca Amiker  in an exclusive interview. "What does it look like? If we're going to do a tour, are we going to do new music?" (For more with Joey, tune into E! News tonight, June 6, at 11 p.m.)

Joey also noted that it might be difficult as they all have separate careers, especially as he himself is set to tour with Backstreet Boys ' AJ McLean this summer for their Legendary Nights tour.

"We're on tour, Justin's still on tour," he explained. "Lance has been doing a podcast, JC's been writing, Chris has been doing a radio called Name Drop and also on tour as well. So, once we get that where our heads are in the same bucket."

But the 47-year-old admitted that *NSYNC's reunion would be different than their 2002 Celebrity Tour.

"It's weird because again, like back in the day when we were younger, nobody was married, nobody had kids, but as we got older, we're married, we have kids," Joey reflected. "It takes a different perspective. I think, for us, it's one of those things of going, 'OK, it would be great to tour because then it's going to honestly financially help my kids, let's be real.'"

"But the thing is, for me, do we want to do it?" he continued. "Everybody's older, everybody has different personalities now. How do we deal with that? I'm not saying that it's bad. It's just a matter of making it cohesive."

Joey's update comes over two months after *NSYNC reunited for their first onstage performance since the 2013 VMAs. Justin brought out his pals to perform during his March One Night Only show in Los Angeles, including their new single, "Paradise."

A song, Lance explained ahead of its release, dedicated to the love the band has received from fans over the years.

"This song is truly a love letter to all of our fans who have been our incredible support system," he wrote on Instagram Stories in September. "You guys have always thought that this would happen even when we didn't. I am truly grateful for every single one of you."

If you've been tearin' up your heart waiting for a reunion tour, keep yourself busy by reading some fun facts about the ‘90s heartthrobs.

1. After Chris Kirkpatrick , 23 at the time, was passed over for the  Backstreet Boys —the first instance of shady impresario Lou Pearlman  capturing boy band lightning in a bottle—he dusted himself off and told Pearlman he was still interested in being in a group.

Pearlman agreed to put up the money if Kirkpatrick would do the work of actually finding other talented guys to join him, and so the sifting through demos and watching countless hours of tapes began. They eventually happened upon  The All New- Mickey Mouse Club alum and aspiring singer  Justin Timberlake , 14, who recommended fellow former Mouseketeer JC Chasez , 19. ("JC was the cool older guy, and Justin wanted to be just like him," co-star Christina Aguilera remembered fondly to Rolling Stone .) 

They continued the search in Orlando, and Kirkpatrick thought of Joey Fatone , 18, who he knew from his days performing at Universal Studios—and who Chasez knew from his time living in Florida when he was working for Disney. But they still needed a deeper voice.

Timberlake's vocal coach advised them to check out this kid from Mississippi,  Lance Bass , who flew down to Florida on Oct. 1, 1995. Pearlman and Timberlake picked the appropriately named 16-year-old up at the airport in the former's black Rolls Royce.

Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough , who knew Kirkpatrick way back when, gave himself a little pat on the back later on for all this serendipity, telling Pop Crush  in 2015 that BSB asked Pearlman "to help [Chris] out in any way that he could and still fulfill his dream. He went back with Chris and formed a group and little by little that spun off to eventually be 'N Sync."

2. But wait, Lance wasn't the first fifth member of 'N Sync!

That role was originally played by Jason Galasso , who had known Fatone from choir in their high school days and was dabbling in the singing-group arts when he got a page (1990s, FTW) out of nowhere from his old acquaintance. Coincidentally, he also knew Chasez because, as Galasso explained on The Digital Get Down  podcast in 2019, he "used to kind of hang out with  The Mickey Mouse Club " stars like Chase Hampton and Keri Russell .

After they "locked in perfectly" on a rendition of Boyz II Men 's "End of the Road," that was it, he was in the as-yet unnamed group. "I remember I'm like, 'Dang, Justin's young!'" he recalled. "But then I heard him sing, I'm like 'Oh, it doesn't matter how old he is, he can sing his butt off."

At the same time, however, the bass singer was also in a three-man group called Unreal, "so I'm still trying to decide, you know, what I want to do, what direction I want to go in as far as which group I want to go with," Galasso, who's in the mortgage loan business these days, recalled. "Because I remember, the first time Lou Pearlman brought over some music, he was thinking about the type of music that we would be doing, and I come from an R&B, hip-hop background. That's my love, my heart, my soul."

So when Pearlman came over with "this European-style techno, I was just like, 'Hmm, okay.'" So, he went ahead and traveled with the other guys in Unreal to Atlanta to cut a demo, which he thought turned out great.

Meanwhile, 'N Sync was starting to fashion a look and they were talking about putting a showcase together for Disney's Pleasure Island. They even took a field trip to Shaquille O'Neal 's house to check out his home studio in Orlando, but they had not yet recorded any music. And, more consequentially for Galasso, they hadn't yet signed any contracts.

Pretty soon, both groups were trying to get him to sign. Galasso said he took the dueling contracts to a lawyer and, while the deal with the trio was pretty standard issue, Pearlman had himself written into the 'N Sync contract as a sixth member, and that contract was "thick as a phone book." He felt that the other members of 'N Sync were more gung-ho than he was about the deal—which was true, because they all proceeded to sign it, whether they truly understood what it entailed or not.

So Galasso ultimately went with the group that wasn't 'N Sync.

3. Aside from Timberlake's mom complimenting that they sounded so "in sync," the group's name—sometimes NSYNC, other times *NSYNC, but for our purposes, 'N Sync—incorporates the last letter of their first names: Justi n , Chri s , Joe y , Jaso n and J C .

Oh, wait...The guys asked Lance if he wouldn't mind tweaking his name a bit to make the whole 'N Sync thing still work. And so, Lanceton was born. "They did call me Lanceton for a good year, just basically as a joke," Bass told EW.com in 2015. "I think it was Justin who first was like, 'Okay, Lanceton.' Then it kinda faded out once we got a deal and then came out. It didn't stick very long. It was either Lanceton or Landon."

4. After a couple of years in which their biggest following was in Germany, ahead-of-their time fans of the  Max Martin -penned "I Want You Back" and "Tearing Up My Heart" ("In Europe, we were on the cover of every magazine," Bass recalled), 'N Sync finally got its big break in the U.S. when the Backstreet Boys turned down a "Disney Channel in Concert" gig.

Instead,  NSYNC   in Concert  came out in 1998 and—thank you, cable—Disney Channel aired it over and over again. "The Disney Channel concert really changed our career," Bass told  20/20 . "It was incredible, and that one gig right there, to me, is what made us in America." 

5. While they were all in Miami to play in their Challenge for the Children charity basketball game, the guys ordered room service to their hotel room not long before they were due at a press call. Fatone showed up at least 15 minutes late because, as it turned out, he had been waiting for a fresh burger—because the one on his plate had a bite taken out of it! But it wasn't delivered that way, Bass  recalled  on the  Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum  podcast. Timberlake had totally taken a bite out of it to screw with his pal.

"It was so funny. I've never seen Joey get so upset about something like that," Bass said. He "was probably tired or something," but "we make fun of him all the time for that outburst. All the time."

6. Fatone may have blown up over a partially eaten burger, but Bass admitted he wasn't always the picture of patience. He told Rosenbaum that he sometimes lost his cool when Kirkpatrick would take his resident funnyman persona too far during interviews. "Chris, you know, he's very animated," Bass said, "and he's funny and he's always cracking a joke. But when someone is always cracking the joke in every single interview, and you do like 20 a day and there's five guys, your days get long and long and long."

"So, there have been many times I'm like, 'Shut up. Just answer the question so we can move on because we are so tired right now.' So, he would always make all our interviews at least double the time."

7. At one point they were too busy to even stop by a barbershop for haircuts (or bleach jobs), so, Bass said, "that's when I started just kind of getting this bleach and putting it in my hair and just putting my fingertips in it, and that's how the frosted tips were born."

Now you know.

8. In 2000, to celebrate the diamond-selling status of their 1997 debut  'N Sync , meaning 10 million copies sold, their manager  Johnny Wright  (who had previously been the road manager for  New Kids on the Block  along with his wife  Donna ) gifted the five with diamond-and-platinum pendants. "We are diamond," Timberlake announced, mostly facetiously,  according to  Rolling Stone . "Screw all of you. I'm done. Forget this boy-band thing."

9. The members of 'N Sync did get rich—but not right away, and not until they took matters into their own hands. As it turned out, Pearlman, who died in prison in 2016 while serving a 25-year sentence for money laundering and other crimes committed in the running of a Ponzi scheme, was seemingly screwing them  and  the Backstreet Boys (and  O-Town  for that matter) out of money.

Talking to ABC News'  20/20   in 2019, Bass recalled Pearlman flying the members of 'N Sync and their families to Los Angeles in 1998 for a promised check-presentation party. The amount: $10,000 apiece.

"I was in the biggest band in the world and selling millions of records…but I can't even afford my apartment in Orlando. I couldn't even get a car," said Bass, who tried to be polite but then ripped up his check when he got back to his hotel room. Added Kirkpatrick, "With all the success you would think that we were making hand-over-fist money and we were printing money and whatever, and it just wasn't the case."

After realizing their contracts, like the members of BSB, treated Pearlman as a sixth member, meaning he got one-sixth of the group's profits as well as management fees, 'N Sync jumped ship for Jive Records—and were promptly sued by TransContinental Records and RCA parent BMG Entertainment, which had distributed their first album. It was a $150 million lawsuit, but Pearlman's big goal was to prevent them from continuing to use the name 'N Sync. They countersued for $25 million and settled for an undisclosed amount in 1999—and, most importantly perhaps, they retained the right to press on with their name intact.

10.  No Strings Attached , their smash-hit sophomore album released in March 2000, was metaphorical AF.

" No Strings Attached  just became the theme," Kirkpatrick, who thought of the concept after "I've Got No Strings" from Disney's  Pinocchio  popped into his head, told  20/20 . "It became our battle cry of, 'We don't owe anybody anymore…we have no ties to anything but each other...and our fans."

Chasez, who won a talent show in the seventh grade singing  Richard Marx 's "Right Here Waiting" only to have Marx write and produce "I Promise You" for  No Strings , told  Rolling Stone , "This album is really in your face. Nothing is sang passively; everything is chopped and punched. You can definitely hear a  Michael Jackson  influence in the way the words chop off—that's the way Michael delivers a line."

Added Timberlake, "We're pissed off now—that's what it is. We're angry white boys who didn't get our props. No, I'm kidding—I'm kidding."

Moreover, they were musically homeless for most of the time they were making it, unhappy with TransContinental and not yet ensconced at Jive, whose artists included Timberlake's then-secret (albeit a poorly kept one) girlfriend  Britney Spears  and the Backstreet Boys.

No Strings Attached  sold 2.4 million copies in its first week out, including 1.1 million on day one.

11. A year later, Jackson was delivering  on stage with them— first at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, appearing just as 'N Sync was winding down its performance of "Pop" and sending the crowd into a frenzy even though he didn't sing—and then for real all together days later on "Dancing Machine" at the  Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration . The two-day concert event held at Madison Square Garden aired on CBS that November.

In 2016, Bass  revealed on  The Meredith Vieira  Show  that Jackson didn't speak to him for a year after the MSG show because, when Jackson insisted that Bass and Fatone (who had a movie premiere to attend) stay until the end for a group rendition of "Heal the World," saying it was "for the children," Bass giggled, not realizing the King of Pop was perfectly serious.

12. Once they all had more money in the bank, naturally they started spending it. In March 2000, Timberlake bought a Mercedes jeep (his first big purchase) and a BMW M Roadster, and would add a Dodge Viper, an Audi TT, a Porsche 911 and a Cadillac Escalade to his collection by the following year. Fatone treated himself to a black Cadillac truck and homes and cars for his parents and siblings. Several of them purchased homes in Orlando, and Kirkpatrick bought a house for his mom, too. Bass got a house in Orlando, one in his home state of Mississippi, and one in the border area known as Floribama.

"There's a white grand piano, a white couch and a tapestry of knights on horses, and I have this beautiful acrylic statue of a nude man and woman that my friend got me," Timberlake described the decor in his Orlando bachelor pad to  Rolling Stone . "It's a beautiful piece: You shine a light on it and it shines right through. I've got a game room that we call the  Jimmy Buffett  room, because it's Orlando tropical, and I have a country kitchen to remind me of where I grew up. The bedroom is a whole safari motif, with a Japanese screen and a big sleigh bed."

The following year, Chasez revealed he'd become a red wine aficionado, and had sprung for a $2,500 book of Helmut Newton photographs.

13. In 2000, just before No Strings Attached came out, Kirkpatrick was dating the girlfriend he'd had for about a year before 'N Sync became a global phenomenon. They weren't meant to be, as he married Karly Skladany in 2013 after three years together, with all of his former bandmates in attendance. 

Timberlake was still playing coy about whether he and Spears were actually dating ("Britney's a good friend of mine"), informing  Rolling Stone , "If I do decide to have a personal relationship with someone, I think it's best to keep it that—personal."

Bass had previously dated  Boy Meets World Star Danielle Fishel , even accompanying her to her high school prom. He'd choose to wait until 2006 to publicly come out as gay, and he's now been married to Michael Turchin since 2014.

Fatone had been on and off with high school sweetheart Kelly Baldwin since 1993—but they were decidedly back on when they welcomed daughter Briahna in March of 2001. They got married in 2004 and had second daughter  Kloey Alexandra  in 2010, but as of 2019 they were divorcing and Fatone was dating Izabel Araujo .

Chasez, meanwhile, usually had girlfriends around (in 2001 he was dating Bobbie Thomas , who was  inspired to start her own blog when she saw how the media treated Spears), but he has kept an impressively tight lid on his private life.

14. By 2000, Bass had started Freelance Management, hoping to develop country artists. Timberlake launched his eponymous foundation to benefit music and arts education in public schools. Chasez was producing music for girl group Wild Orchid and Kirkpatrick had started his own fashion and music production company called Fuman Skeeto.

15. Legions of screaming tween fans aside, they weren't  trying  to be extra adorable to appeal to as many kids (and their moms) as possible.

"We don't try to make ourselves do cute, we just are who we are," Timberlake told  Rolling Stone  in 2000. "We're boys. We burp and fart, just like boys."

16. Kirkpatrick considered himself the stereotypical guy's guy among them, telling Rolling Stone in 2001, "I'm like a bunch of college guys got together and said, 'Let's make a dude, a crazy dude.' And they made me."

The writer described Bass as a "supernice, humble, patient guy who's so pretty he almost looks like a girl, and who never, ever stops smiling." Chasez was said to be the one whose offstage personality was furthest from his onstage persona, "the one most likely to meander right past you so silently you wouldn't even notice him."

Fatone was "a giant wild boy with a rambunctious electricity bubbling constantly beneath his skin, as if he's about to make a party break out anytime, anywhere." 

17. During rehearsal in New Orleans in 2001, a platform shot up too early and Fatone's lower leg was caught between it and the stage, somehow not breaking the bone but exposing a  lot  of the interior of his leg.

"There was a hole," Bass told  Rolling Stone . "You could see the bone, you could see everything. So we applied pressure on it, and the fat was coming out, and it was not good. He can take pain good, but he was in pain. Oh, he screamed. It looked like a bullet went through his leg."

Added Chasez, "He ended up going to the hospital and they cut a piece of his leg out and had to rinse the metal out because his leg was caught between two pieces of metal. I don't know how it didn't break. He's a tough kid."

A few weeks later, Fatone, who had been using a cane to get around, was back on stage dancing. "He's in pain," Chasez observed. "But Joey's got great showmanship. He knows how to cover his steps 'cause he's been onstage longer than any of us."

18. When you think about it, 'N Sync had a relatively tame run. They're first to admit they had their fun, but they were  not troublemakers, nor did trouble have a habit of "finding them." Bass liked a Jack and Coke, but would more likely volunteer to be the evening's designated driver.  "If some twelve-year-old sees on the news that I got arrested for cocaine, that affects a lot of people," he told Rolling Stone . "I remember when I was ten and I caught my sister drinking. It was so devastating to me." He added, "I can have water and feel like I'm getting drunk."

19. Fame hadn't come overnight, but once it did, it was a whole new world.

"You realize what hard work it is and that it's not glamorous," Bass told  Rolling Stone . "It's like going to Disney World, going into the tunnels and seeing Cinderella smoking a cigarette. The whole magic is gone."

Timberlake admitted, "It's been a little tough There's definitely been times when I was totally depressed. But, you know, my spirituality helped me through that. I just feel like there's two of me: the public-eye me and the guy-who-brushes-his-teeth-twice-a-day me. They're getting along all right now. Sometimes brush-his-teeth doesn't get enough attention, but it's worth it."

"You don't want to say or do too much," acknowledged Fatone. "You know, it's like breaking the fans' hearts if there's something out there that they don't know about and might get upset about."

20. In case anyone was under the impression that 'N Sync was composed of five disparate parts who just got lucky, they'd be wrong.

"We started out as best friends, and you know, I think it shows—it shows in everything we do," Kirkpatrick, sitting down on CNN's  Larry King Live   with the rest of the group, said in January 2001. "From when we're on stage, when we're clowning around, we do, like, so many shows that each show is so different because of the interaction amongst each other. And we'll goof around with each other."

In response to King's observation that a lot of band members don't really get along behind the scenes, Timberlake added, "Well, the chemistry we have is unreal. I can't tell you, you know even with this tour last summer, I could just look at Chris and it could say 10 things at the same time, and he would know exactly what I meant just by looking at him, because we've been together...Even before everything took off, we were together, some of us working 9:00 to 5:00. But every day, singing, and you know, trying to get our act together."

21. The channeled their misgivings about living life in a fish bowl to varying effect with their third album, 2001's  Celebrity .

By then, Timberlake was openly dating Spears ("When we get together, that's just my girl, and I love her, and that's it. I don't think about what everybody's thinkin' about. She makes me happy. She's like salvation," he  told  Rolling Stone ; Bass added, "They're so perfect for each other, it's scary") and the group was making a reported $2.5 million a night on their PopOdyssey stadium tour.

22. In 2000, Timberlake told  Rolling Stone , talking about the influx of boy bands onto the music scene, "I think the next couple of years will separate the boys from the men. What worries me is the oversaturation of the market."

Well, the other boy bands wouldn't have to worry about it for long.

23. 'N Sync went on so-called "temporary hiatus" in 2002 after wrapping up their Celebrity Tour, mainly so Timberlake could focus on his solo career, and that turned out to be it. Though no one came right out and said it and the group never officially announced that they were disbanding. One Direction fans know the concept well.

"After you do something for a certain amount of time, you get into a rhythm of it and then new things spark your curiosity; you need new brain food," Chasez, who had a solo hit that year with "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love),"  reflected to Huffington Post in 2019. "At that time, we just felt like we had exhausted every kind of idea for what we were doing and we just felt like, 'OK, let's do something different.' So, that's what we did." 

As for Bass, he said, "me and the guys were never on bad terms at al...The thing I was most disappointed in was not just Justin leaving the band. It's that our whole team, our record label, our management, everything like that, they all knew. They all knew it was over for three years before they told me.

"So, for three years, I'm sitting there getting ready for a new album as everyone else knows we're moving on."

24. The guys from 'N Sync pretty much went their separate ways as they embarked on their solo aspirations and Timberlake became a superstar in their own right (though that's not why none of them went to JT's wedding in Italy when he married Jessica Biel in 2012), having released  Justified  in November 2002 and never  really  looking back.

So could their reunion performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards have  been  more hyped?!

It was short but sweet, and their moves were intact.

25. Reflecting on why he didn't come out while he was in 'N Sync, Bass said at the group's Hollywood Walk of Fame induction in 2018 that "at the time, I thought that I would never be able to tell anyone because not only was I terrified of the lasting rejection—I was certain that that would happen—but more than that I didn't want to jeopardize the careers of these guys up here, much less the hundreds of amazing people who worked tirelessly to bring 'N Sync to the world."

Bass continued, "I thought if I had come out, 'N Sync would be over. So I kept my secret. And our wildest dreams were coming true and we were so incredibly thankful—and I still am. But so many nights onstage, I'd see so many young, gay fans singing their hearts out and I wanted so badly to let you know, I was you. I just didn't have the strength then. But I do today and so let me say loud and proud to all my LGBT brothers and sisters, who embrace me and show me the way to be who I am, thank you so much."

We can only imagine he's gained plenty of new fans since going public with his true self. And if he lost any, those people never deserved him in the first place.

nsync stadium tour 2024

NSYNC's Joey Fatone and Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean Announce 2024 Tour

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.

Fresh off NSYNC's headline-making reunion and new single last year, the boy band's Joey Fatone has announced an upcoming tour with none other than the Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean.

The pair will hit the road this March as part of the "A Legendary Night Tour," where they're set to perform the biggest hits from each of their bands. The pair will trek across the East Coast, making multiple stops in New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston and Florida. The official pre-sale, including VIP packages, goes live Jan. 10. The public sale will begin on Friday, Jan. 12, at 10 a.m. PT.

The tour comes after the longtime friends joined forces at an event this past September in Tampa, Fla., called "Joey Fatone & Friends' Welcome to Tampa 90s Party."

This past year, McLean has been busy with a number of Backstreet Boys-related projects, including the band's stadium-filling "DNA Tour," which had performances across Sydney, China, India and more. The band, comprising McLean, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson, also released their documentary series "Making of the DNA Tour."

Meanwhile, Fatone is coming off a headline-making reunion with NSYNC. In November, the '90s boy band released their first single in nearly 20 years, titled "Better Place" for the "Trolls Band Together" soundtrack. The five members, including Fatone, Justine Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick, made their first public appearance as a band, and hinted at new music, at the 2023 VMAs.

Purchase tickets to McLean and Fatone's "A Legendary Night Tour" beginning Jan. 10 below.

Buy Now: A LEGENDARY NIGHT TOUR TICKETS

More from Variety

  • 'Trolls Band Together' Review: Justin Timberlake Takes the Spotlight in Boy Band-Themed Toon Sequel
  • Joey Fatone Was 'Blindsided' When Justin Timberlake Left NSYNC: We Thought He'd 'Just Come Back After' Solo Album and Tour
  • Apple TV+ Debuts Trailer for Edith Wharton-Inspired Series 'The Buccaneers' (TV News Roundup)

NSYNC's Joey Fatone and Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean Announce 2024 Tour

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  2. Nsync Reunion Tour 2024 Dates: Get Your Tickets Now!

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  6. Nsync Backstreet Boys Tour 2024 Schedule

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  10. NSYNC's Joey Fatone and Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean Announce ...

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