NSYNC said hello, hello, hello to their fans who have long awaited a reunion.
Justin Timberlake held a free show in Los Angeles on Wednesday night at the Art Deco theater where he surprised the crowd with a special performance of his upcoming song “Paradise,” which features his NSYNC bandmates.
Videos on social media show Timberlake, 43, standing as the curtain behind him slowly revealed Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and JC Chasez. The crowd instantly went wild, screaming louder than the group as they began singing.
The group performed “Paradise” and “Bye Bye Bye” together, bridging their new music with their classic hit. The night marked their first performance with all five band members since their reunion at the 2013 VMAs.
Timberlake, who is gearing up for the release of his sixth solo album “Everything I Thought It Was,” shared a photo of the stage with five empty stools on Instagram after the show.
“That was fun. Let’s do it again soon,” Bass, 44, teased in the comments section.
Timberlake, who got his musical start in the ’90s boy band NSYNC, opened up about the possibility of releasing new music with the group during an interview on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in January.
“We’ve been in the studio, so there may be a little something in the future, too,” Timberlake told host Kelly Clarkson.
It was later revealed that his upcoming album includes a song featuring NSYNC. Timberlake posted a snippet of “Paradise” on Instagram Wednesday.
Bass told USA TODAY earlier this month, that the song “Paradise” made his mom emotional.
“We recorded that a long time ago when we recorded ‘Better Place,’ so we’ve been sitting on this for a while,” Bass said. “Hard not to talk about it. But I’m glad that it’s about to come out because it is such a special song. One of my favorites I’ve ever recorded. My mom cried immediately when she heard it. So it’s Mom-approved.”
Timberlake previously reunited with NSYNC in September on the single “Better Place,” which was featured on the soundtrack to Timberlake’s animated comedy “Trolls Band Together.” The song marked the group’s first release since their album “Celebrity” in 2001.
NSYNC teased a reunion after their 2023 MTV Video Music Awards appearance
NSYNC teased its reunion with an appearance at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards in September. The group presented the best pop award during the ceremony, which was won by Taylor Swift.
“That was fun,” said Timberlake of reuniting. “It’s kind of crazy, like, there’s so much that just picks up right where it left off as far as the chemistry.”
Timberlake’s bandmate Fatone reflected on the success of their comeback with “Better Place” in an October interview with OK magazine.
“People are obviously yelling and screaming for a tour, but there’s a lot of things that come into play before that could happen,” Fatone said. “There’s five guys — some of us are married, some have kids, some may not want to do it. We have to have that conversation and talk about what we do now that the song is out there.”
NSYNC formed in 1995 and released its self-titled debut album in March 1998. The boy band went on to earn nine Top 10 hits on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, a trio of multiplatinum albums and eight Grammy nominations.
Justin Timberlake tour begins in April
The “Mirrors” singer, actor and former member of of the boyband NSYNC announced The Forget Tomorrow World Tour in January, his first tour in five years. The North American leg of the tour is set to kick off a month after his free show on April 29 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada, and includes stops in cities in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the U.K.
In February, he announced that the second leg of the tour will restart this fall and include eight new shows in the U.S. and Canada.
It’s unclear if his NSYNC bandmates plan to join him for any of the shows on Timberlake’s upcoming tour.
Contributing: Emily DeLetter, Edward Segarra, KiMi Robinson, Olivia Munson and Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY; Bob Mehr, The Commercial Appeal
