Generation Y has been partying like it’s 1999 again, ever since *NSYNC took the stage together at the MTV Video Music Awards and released their first new music in two decades. Aside from Millennials hilariously freaking out on TikTok over the boy band’s reunion, it seems a younger audience has now been tuned in to some of the best pop music of decades past, as Justin Timberlake and the rest of *NSYNC have seen a resurgence in popularity over the past few weeks. It’s a “weird” phenomenon, Joey Fatone said, and he had an interesting take on their music making a comeback.
Justin Timberlake got the band back together to record the single “Better Place” for the Trolls Band Together soundtrack, and the big question since then seems to be whether or not *NSYNC will reunite for a tour or record a new album. If not, the reunion might feel a little disappointing to longtime fans, but Joey Fatone told OK! Magazine that the rise in demand for the boy band’s music came as quite a surprise — albeit a welcome one. He said:
People are listening and loving it, which is great. It’s weird. It’s as if we died and came back to life. It’s odd.
I can see how Joey Fatone and his bandmates — who, along with Justin Timberlake, include JC Chasez, Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick — would find their rediscovered popularity “weird,” since it’s not like the *NSYNC catalog has gone anywhere in the past 20 years. With the excitement generated by “Better Place,” not only have Millennials been rediscovering their love for dirty pop, but a new generation has been jumping onto the bandwagon as well, and Fatone said it makes him emotional to see the fans react to their music. He continued:
They were finding things they haven’t seen before, especially the young kids. I never thought *NSYNC songs would be featured on TikTok and now there are a ton of them! It’s gratifying and very humble. It’s a sweet thing that I actually did get choked up about.
The boy band got more than its 15 minutes of fame the first time around, so to be experiencing it again is pretty unexpected, according to Joey Fatone. He was just happy to be reuniting with the rest of *NSYNC for the Trolls 3 soundtrack and apparently never expected to go viral or see their name on the charts again. In his words:
I didn’t think it was going to have the magnitude it had. I didn’t think about it hitting the charts, which I know sounds stupid. I wasn’t even thinking about that! It was like, ‘This is for the Trolls Band Together movie. Let’s do it for fun.’ I wasn’t thinking like, ‘You’re on the charts in Canada, Belgium, Germany’ — all these places we haven’t been to in years! Why is this even happening?
The “why” may not be as important as recognizing that it is happening, and could be shaping a possible future for *NSYNC, according to Lance Bass. The bandmates have all seemingly been noncommittal in regards to the future, with Joey Fatone pointing out that they’re all in different places these days with spouses, families and other work commitments. At least now they know the demand for something more is there!