Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for MTV
Millennials across the world started their day with a jolt after rumors of a potential NSYNC reunion at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards spread across the internet like wildfire. A reliable source told Billboard that the band would “be on stage together,” as a special, surprise part of the show. Given that the former boy band remains a major part of music history—with the influence of their massive hits traceable in groups like One Direction and BTS—an NSYNC performance would’ve fit perfectly the VMAs’ new tagline: Music’s most iconic night.
Unfortunately, the rumors that the group would be together onstage were all too literal. Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, and Chris Kirkpatrick appeared barely 10 minutes into Tuesday’s VMAs telecast, emerging from backstage to present the award for Best Pop Video. Though they might have all been dressed like members of Queer Eye’s modern Fab Five, there was hardly anything fabulous about this reunion. It was nothing more than a drab appearance, another knife to the heart for all of us holding out hope that the VMAs might someday generate the kind of hype they did throughout the aughts.
Judging by the demeanor of the band’s members, NSYNC’s arrival seemed like a glorified contractual requirement to drum up buzz for their new song “Take You to a Better Place.” The track will supposedly appear on the soundtrack for Trolls Band Together, also a fitting place for a reunion, given that Timberlake voices one of the hit franchise’s main characters. But wouldn’t a live performance at the VMAs have made just as much noise? This was, after all, the show where the band picked up seven Moon Person trophies over the band’s tenure, a fact that Fatone mentioned when he took the mic.