NSync may not have taken home the award for Best Group at the 2024 MTV VMAs on Wednesday, but Lance Bass isn’t sweating it.
“This many years later to be nominated again … 25 years later, it’s just, it’s silly to me. I think it’s so funny,” Bass told Yahoo Entertainment. “But just honored that people even care about us this many decades later.”
The boy band member, podcaster, author and father of two admits that the awards show has special meaning to him and his fellow NSync pals, having not only performed at the event multiple times but also having reunited just last year to honor fellow pop icon Taylor Swift.
“VMAs obviously were very special to us. We were definitely in that MTV era where it didn’t matter who you were, you had to watch MTV. It was the only place to go get your music right after school. You had to watch TRL. So, with the VMAs, it’s just where we got to really have fun and put on the biggest performance,” he said.
As far as choosing a favorite VMAs performance, Bass said he couldn’t pick a favorite, but there was one in particular that stuck with him.
“The one that really stands out to me is the ‘Bye Bye Bye,’ where we did the television screen heads. I think that was so memorable,” he shared.
“Bye Bye Bye” is seeing a resurgence of its own thanks to its well-placed appearance in the opening credits of Deadpool & Wolverine.
“We approved that song for Deadpool months ago. But you never know how it’s going to be used,” Bass explained. “But when Ryan Reynolds asks for you to put a song in his movie, you say yes, you don’t need to know what the reason is.”
Reynolds eventually let the group in on how their famous song would play in the film.
“Right before the premiere, Ryan did call us and explain how he was going to use it. And I was just floored because as a Deadpool fan, I know how those openings of movies are. And the fact that he was going to use our song in its entirety to open up this movie, I could not wait to see it,” Bass said.
The hit song also has inspired Bass’s partnership with Kelley Blue Book, where he’s offering tips on saying so long to well-loved cars. (In Bass’s case, he recalls the Buick Century he inherited from his sister whose taillight he broke two weeks after he got it. “So basically my whole high school career, I had red masking tape on the taillight,” he said.)
Bass said it’s fun to see a whole new generation enjoy the song, including his almost 3-year-old boy-girl twins Alexander and Violet with husband Michael Turchin.
“I have to play it in the car to school 50 times,” he said. “Thanks to Deadpool, my kids are now obsessed with NSync. So thank you for making me look cool.”
With all of the NSync love happening right now, does the quintet have plans to reunite for a reunion stadium tour?
“We are definitely discussing what we could possibly do. It’s really hard to get all five people together in a room and really hone in on exactly what we can do,” Bass explained. “Everyone knows Justin [Timberlake]’s on tour for a little bit longer, so I don’t think any decisions are going to be made until he’s able to jump off tour and take a breath a little bit. But we’re definitely all open to doing something together. I just don’t know what that is. So rumors will be rumors until we figure out exactly what it is.”