Here's Why *NSYNC Showed Up At The VMAs Last Night

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Back in the late '90s and early aughts, pop music fans divided themselves into two major camps.

You were either Team Backstreet Boys or Team *NSYNC, and there was very little crossover. While the Backstreet Boys have reunited and even toured, *NSYNC only had one brief reunion at the MTV VMAs in 2013.

Last night, millennials everywhere (including Taylor Swift) freaked out because *NSYNC reunited at the VMAs onstage. Sadly, they didn't perform—but something about the reunion seems to hint at something larger to come. Even Taylor asked, "You guys are doing something, right?"

With all that <gestures broadly> it’s understandable to have questions about *NSYNC and where its members are today. Here’s what you need to know.

Why did they reunite at the VMAs?

To present an award. I guess?

Every member—Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass, and Justin Timberlake—walked out on stage at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey to present an award for "Best Pop." Naturally, the award went to Taylor Swift.

They took a very brief trip down memory lane to talk about when they won 'Best Pop Video' for "Bye Bye Bye." Then, they mentioned something that happened at the 2000 VMAs that made them not be able to accept their "Best Pop" award.

It seems they were referring to when Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine climbed onto scaffolding at the award show in 2000 after losing Best Rock Video to Limp Bizkit.

Apparently, it interrupted the award show, and led to the bassist being arrested.

Did *NSYNC perform at the VMAs?

Nope. There are rumors that the band may have been slated to perform a new song set for the Trolls Band Together movie, which is set to premiere in November.

However, it's likely that the SAG-AFTRA strike prohibits actors from promoting their work in any way, which would include one of the biggest boy bands in history performing their first new song in 20 years.

But...why the Trolls movie? ICYMI, Justin Timberlake plays one of the main characters in the Trolls franchise. This might be why they only appeared at the VMAs to give Taylor Swift an award.

Why was Taylor Swift so excited about *NSYNC?

She's a fan. When accepting her award for Best Pop, she told the band that she had their dolls growing up. The "Anti-Hero"singer also vocalized what everyone was thinking, which was, "Are you doing something? What's going to happen now?"

The band seemed to only be together for that moment on stage, and it looks like Lance Bass even gave Taylor some friendship bracelets. Aww.

When was *NSYNC founded?

*NSYNC was founded back in 1995 in Orlando, Florida. They were managed by Lou Pearlman, who was a big name in the boy band world way back when, per IMDb.

What does the name stand for?

As *NSYNC lore goes, Justin Timberlake’s mom, Lynn Harless allegedly commented at how “in sync” the group was on the singing front, which led to a play on the last letter of everyone’s names: JustiN, ChriS, JoeY, LansteN, and JC.

In reality, it probably was thought up by the record label’s marketers but, hey, it makes for a good story.

Who were the original *NSYNC members?

The original—and only—members are:

• Justin Timberlake

• JC Chasez

• Chris Kirkpatrick

• Joey Fatone

• Lance Bass

How many albums did they release together?

The band released three regular albums together and one Christmas album. Those included:

• *NSYNC (1998)

• Home for Christmas (1998)

• No Strings Attached (2000)

• Celebrity (2001)

Why did *NSYNC break up?

*NSYNC broke up in 2002 and it kinda-totally seems like Justin Timberlake was to blame. He went on to release his debut solo album, Justified, in November 2002 and never looked back.

Joey later told The Huffington Post that fellow members thought Justin would do his solo thing and then return to the group, but that didn’t happen.

“We thought we were getting back together. It was, ’OK, after [Justin] does his thing, blah, blah, blah, we’ll get back together and move forward and do what we got to do,” he said. “And then it was like, nope. The record company wanted to push Justin, I guess, is what it was. He got bigger and bigger, which is honestly great for him and I’m totally happy for him in that sense, but it was more or less weird that there wasn’t an explanation to say we’re not going to do it, period.”

Lance wrote in his 2007 book Out of Sync that the band was “definitely broken up,” adding, “It’s not a hiatus. Justin made it clear that he wouldn’t be interested in discussing another album any time soon.”

Is *NSYNC still together?

Kind of? It’s not confirmed, but the group reportedly has a new song in the third Trolls movie, called Trolls Band Together.

But are they still a group that puts together studio albums and tours? Nope.

Here’s what they’re all up to now:

Joey Fatone

Joey is a restauranteur and host of Common Knowledge, which airs on the Game Show Network. He’s also done some production work, according to IMDb. He also randomly hosts parties with AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys.

JC Chasez

JC released a few solo albums that didn’t get a lot of traction. He now works as a songwriter and producer, and recently appeared in a cat food commercial.

Chris Kirkpatrick

Chris went on to found an alternative rock group called Nigels 11. He’s also dad to a kindergartener named Nash:

Lance Bass

Lance has dabbled in a lot of different things—acting, producing, and starring in a reality show with his now-husband Michael Turchin. He also said on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show” that he made “way more money” after the band broke up than he did when they were together. Lance is now dad to twins Alexander James and Violet Betty.

Justin Timberlake

Justin by far had the most success of all of the former members of the group. He’s acted in a slew of movies, including providing the voice of Branch in the super successful Trolls franchise, and released several popular albums. He’s nabbed 10 Grammys to date.

Justin is married to Jessica Biel—they have two sons.

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