Nine months since JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass almost broke the internet with their show-stopping Coachella performance, a new year is bringing new anticipation for an NSYNC reunion. There’d be a strong hook for it: 2020 is an anniversary year for “No Strings Attached,” the album that set a first-week record by selling 2.4 million copies when it came out in March 2000, a mark that stood for 15 years before it was bested by Adele. Moreover, Chasez’s recent movements have heightened hopes that this will be the decade the group says Bye Bye Bye to being Gone and tears up our hearts with a long-awaited comeback.
The boy band, who went on hiatus in 2002, last performed as a five-piece while supporting Justin Timberlake as he received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2013 VMAs, then reunited for their Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2018. However, the unlikelihood of Timberlake setting his hugely successful solo career aside to take part in a reunion has remained a roadblock. Variety has learned the singer is planning to start recording new music in February, making his involvement even less likely. (A rep for Timberlake did not respond to a request for comment.)
However, when the band hit the stage as a foursome to perform with Ariana Grande at Coachella, the phenomenal response made a loud and clear statement that the world wants an NSYNC reunion — with or without Timberlake. That left comeback hopes heavily hinged on NSYNC’s other lead singer, Chasez, and his recent sightings have fans hoping he’s quietly helping hatch a comeback.
Shortly after Coachella, Chasez flew to London where he saw Take That in concert and had drinks with the band at Rosewood London. Just like NSYNC, Take That had two lead vocalists (Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow), and while Williams, like Timberlake, embarked on a successful solo career, Take That has succeeded without him.
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