NSYNC reunites at Justin Timberlake concert

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Justin Timberlake got the band back, bringing NSYNC out to perform some of their past hits as well as their new song Paradise during his Los Angeles concert celebrating his new album, Everything I Thought It Was.

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In videos posted to Timberlake’s Instagram Story, the crowd at his One Night Only show Wednesday was seen going wild when a large curtain opened to reveal his fellow NSYNC bandmates Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick on stage.

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Chrissy Teigen also shared a video of the reunion as the group sang their hit Girlfriend captioning her clip, “Oh my f***ing god @justintimberlake.”

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Other fans cheered the reunion on social media, with Cab frontman Bohnes calling it “one of the best days of my life.”

The surprise performance is the first time that the quintet has played live together since the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, when the band reunited to celebrate Timberlake’s Video Vanguard Award.

The other four group members reunited without Timberlake during Ariana Grande’s headlining set at Coachella in 2019.

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In addition to Paradise, the fivesome also sang a medley of their past hits, including Girlfriend, Bye Bye Bye and It’s Gonna Be Me.

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Timberlake shared a photo of five empty stools at the Wiltern to mark the occasion.

“That was fun. Let’s do it again soon,” Bass, 44, teased in the comments section.

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Before Paradise was announced, Timberlake, who broke out with the band in the ’90s before going solo with 2002’s Justified, was asked during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in January about the possibility that NSYNC would record new music together.

“We’ve been in the studio, so there may be a little something in the future, too,” Timberlake replied.

Earlier this month, Bass told USA Today 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 favourites I’ve ever recorded. My mom cried immediately when she heard it. So it’s Mom-approved.”

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In addition to singing together on Paradise, NSYNC reunited for Better Place last year, which featured on the Trolls Band Together soundtrack.

The reunion comes more than 20 years after NSYNC went on an indefinite hiatus following the release of 2001’s Celebrity after Timberlake’s decision to go solo.

During a 2020 interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music Essentials, Timberlake said he always had planned a solo career, long before he was part of the band.

“At that time, everyone had aspirations of doing other things, and we had talked about it,” he told Lowe.

But while a full-blown reunion seems unlikely (Timberlake launches a solo tour next month that will come to Toronto Oct. 17-18), during their appearance at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards in September, where they presented the the best pop award to Taylor Swift, the Grammy winner left the door open a crack for something bigger down the line.

“That was fun,” Timberlake said 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.”

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