Lance Bass wants an 'NSYNC reunion: ‘If there's any time, it would be right now'
Lance Bass is hosting the HGTV special Outrageous Holiday Houses, airing the night before Thanksgiving, which of course has him feeling all nostalgic for Home for Christmas, 'NSYNC’s triple-platinum 1998 holiday album. “It just turned 21 this week, which is weird: Our album can officially drink the eggnog legally,” he jokes. “And that was one of my favorite albums — actually, probably my favorite album we ever recorded.
“It's nice to go down memory lane with the fans and find out how old they were when they first heard the CD… it's a huge part of people's lives, and I get that. Growing up, it was those certain Christmas albums that just made your childhood. To be able to do that for some fans out there, I just think just such a cool thing to be a part of someone's holiday tradition.”
Christmas actually came early this year for 'NSYNC fans — in April, specifically — when 'NSYNC, minus Justin Timberlake, joined Ariana Grande during her headlining set at Coachella. Though there was a time when, Bass admits, a boy band would have been “laughed off the stage” at Coachella, they turned out to be the highlight of the entire festival weekend.
“It was a special time, because we didn't know what people were going to react to. Immediately, you think in this whole social media world that the majority are just going to take the negative route with it, and just make fun of us and be like, ‘Look at these old farts onstage!’” says Bass. “But it didn't go that way. It was a beautiful thing… because there was a bunch of dudes loving this performance, right? And back in the day, you weren't allowed to really admit you liked 'NSYNC if you were a guy. But now that so many years have passed, the guys are like, ‘Oh yeah, we love those guys.’ So, it's nice to see that no one has to care about not liking us in public.”
Of course, all of this nostalgia has fans making their ultimate Christmas wish: for a full-fledged 'NSYNC reunion in the new year. And Bass tells Yahoo Entertainment he’s all for it. “Look, you don't have to ask me. I'm in! I would love to do more 'NSYNC music. … I mean, it would be a choice. If there's any time, it would be right now.”
So… how can we make this happen? “I don't know,” says Bass. “I mean, it's hard to get all five of us to agree to do anything. We're such boys, and the communication is horrible. We're great on text about sending silly stupid things, but when it comes down to business, it's really hard for us to make a decision on stuff. And I mean, Justin is killing it right now. He hasn't had a break since we recorded last.”
Of course, the crazed reaction at Coachella proved that fans really want this reunion even if Timberlake isn’t on board. “It was encouraging, definitely, to see that,” says Bass. “And especially for JC [Chasez]. Because JC stayed out of the limelight a good bit since 'NSYNC. He's a studio cat; he loves writing for other artists. It was nice to remind people how talented he was, you know? I mean, the No. 1 trending thing after Coachella was ‘JC Chasez.’ Holy moly. His voice is one of the best male vocalists I've ever heard.”
New Kids on the Block’s Donnie Wahlberg even rallied for an 'NSYNC reunion, with or without Timberlake, during a recent NKOTB concert at the Hollywood Bowl — even pulling Bass, who was in the audience, onstage to make his case. “Oh my gosh, I was so embarrassed,” laughs Bass. “They kept bringing me onstage, and I'm like ‘This is not my show. Stop!’ And I'm a huge New Kids fan; I mean, that was one of the first concerts I ever went to. So, it was a little surreal moment to be kept bringing onstage and having Donnie Wahlberg try to convince you to come back and bring out new music.”
Whether or not the reunion finally happens, Bass is currently working on a scripted buddy comedy film based on the true story of two crazy college-age ‘NSNYC fans who, determined to follow 'NSYNC’s entire Pop Odyssey summer tour, won a Winnebago on The Price Is Right and made their dream happen. “It was the biggest prize ever won on The Price Is Right, and it just changed their lives,” says Bass. “So, it was this incredible kind of coming-of-age road trip story that happened. Even back then when I heard about this story, I'm like, ‘This is such a great film.’ So yeah. So we sold it to Tri-Star, and so we're going to be filming that next year. It’s a total road trip comedy. In fact, it's not even the original story — this is what happens 20 years later with the girls. They're getting the Winnebago back working again and trying to recapture their youth.”
Perhaps it’s a desire to recapture one’s youth, or to just revisit a simpler and sweeter time, that has everyone from Grande to Wahlberg clamoring for an 'NSYNC reunion, especially at Christmastime. “Of course, everyone likes to look back at the better times,” says Bass. “Right now, it's a hard time for a lot of people. And you just want to revert to those [times] when you were a teenager, and all was good in the world, and innocent, you didn't really have that many responsibilities. People just want to feel that again. And music is the soundtrack of that. You listen to a song, and it just takes you back to a lot of those memories. And people are just jonesing for that. And I think that's why the ‘90s/early 2000s is just really huge. People are just wanting to feel that innocence again.
“And, I do think that if we did something within 'NSYNC, it would be a special time to do it. Because there needs to be some more positivity in this world, and I think we bring out a lot of that. And it would be nice to make people smile again.”
Watch Lance Bass’s full Yahoo Entertainment below as he discusses his holiday special, co-starring with Gary Coleman in the “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” music video, whether he’d ever appear on The Masked Singer, and if he’s still bitter that HGTV outbid him for the Brady Bunch house.
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
· Lance Bass on the 'NSYNC and Backstreet Boys rivalry: 'The animosity was real'
· Time to change: The 'Brady Bunch' bathroom finally gets a toilet after 50 years
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