It finally happened.
Following all the rumors and cryptic memes last fall that led to an MTV VMAs appearance and a red-carpet group photo thanks to *NSYNC’s new song for the Trolls Band Together soundtrack, fans were left desperate for a live performance from the boy band. After all, it was a band that made its name with performative music videos, blockbuster stadium tours and iconic choreography, so when fans think “*NSYNC,” they think performance. Fans were clamoring for a full tour, sure, but they really would have settled for the band singing live together just one more time.
Well, on Wednesday night (March 13), we got that one more time. More than a decade after they last performed together at the 2013 Video Music Awards as part of Justin Timberlake’s VMA Vanguard Award medley, they once again hit JT’s stage, this time for a one-night-only concert at The Wiltern in Los Angeles ahead of the Friday (March 15) release of his sixth solo album, Everything I Thought It Was.
It all started with a trip down memory lane, when DJ Andrew Hypes played a series of hit Timberlake features, including Timbaland’s “Give It to Me,” Jay-Z’s “Holy Grail” and 50 Cent’s “Ayo Technology.” Justin had included this segment in his other two pre-release shows as well, at his hometown concert at Memphis’ Orpheum Theatre on Jan. 19 and his show at New York’s Irving Plaza on Jan. 31. Hypes had also played a handful of *NSYNC songs at those concerts, but on Wednesday night, when he dropped the first *NSYNC song — “Gone” from 2000’s Celebrity — the curtains opened behind Timberlake to reveal his four bandmates singing harmony on the chorus.
“Ear-piercing” doesn’t properly describe the volume of the fan reaction in the room. Maybe eardrum-shattering. Or “book an appointment for your ENT to investigate the possibility of shriek-induced hearing loss” levels. This was 15 songs into an already epic concert, which included three of Timberlake’s five Billboard Hot 100 solo No. 1 hits and pretty much every other song that comes to mind when you think of Justin. But there was truly a before and after point of the concert from that moment on.
“I don’t know what to do after that,” Timberlake admitted once he was alone again onstage, before saying, “But this” and giving us one final song (what more could this crowd possibly ask for?), ending the night with 2013’s “Mirrors.”
So let’s take a step back and look at all the highlights from this concert, lest it go down in history as an *NSYNC reunion and nothing more. In fact, there were two other surprise guests who popped up during the nearly two-hour show and a host of other special moments. Below, find all the best moments – yes, of course including the reunion – from Billboard’s vantage point as a lucky crowd member at the history-making show.
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Tobe Nwigwe Is the First Surprise Guest
Looking all the way back to the night’s first song, Timberlake kicked things off with “Sanctified” – the Everything I Thought It Was track he performed with Tobe Nwigwe on Saturday Night Live in January. While JT also kicked off his Irving Plaza show with “Sanctified,” that crowd didn’t get a cameo from the Nigerian-American rapper, and it was amazing to see their electric dynamic in person. While we’ve now gotten two performances of the holy-rolling duet, fans are still waiting to hear the recording of the song when the album arrives on Friday since it hasn’t yet been commercially released.
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‘VIP (Go ’Head Be Gone With It)’
Timberlake gave his A-list friends in the crowd a shout-out with a certain lyric in “SexyBack,” which was the second song of the night — and you know you’re in for exclusively hits when “SexyBack” is second up. “VIP (go ’head be gone with it),” he sang while pointing up to the balcony, where John Legend and Chrissy Teigen were sitting in the front row among other famous friends and family. Before the show, Billboard spotted the couple in the balcony singing and dancing to DMX’s “Ruff Ryders Anthem.” (Later in the night, Teigen made sure to upgrade to the floor for the *NSYNC surprise, posting Instagram Stories from just outside the pit with the captions “Oh my f—ing god @justintimberlake” and simply “dead.”)
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JT’s Advice for Son Silas
Timberlake is notoriously private about his family life, especially when it comes to his two kids — 8-year-old Silas and 3-year-old Phineas — and both JT and his wife, Jessica Biel, keep their boys’ faces off social media and out of the spotlight. But the proud dad did let the crowd know between songs that Silas was attending Wednesday night’s concert. “It’s also a very special night: My son is here,” Timberlake announced to supportive cheers. “He’s up with his friend, his buddy. My other one [Phineas] is too young. He can’t; he’s in bed. Son, I just want you to know how much I love you. I want you to – and this is for everybody here: Always dare to dream. Because you never know where you might end up.”
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‘No Angels’ in Concert for the First Time
While Timberlake played “No Angels” during his appearance Monday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, this was the first concert to be gifted with the yet-unreleased track. And its clubby beat was a perfect fit for The Wiltern, where the general-admission floor is standing-room-only and always leads to dance floor vibes. “Therе ain’t no angels here on the dance floor,” Timberlake sings in the chorus, suggesting in the lyrics that all the good girls “tuck your wings away” for the night and let loose. And judging by the night’s carefree dancing, the good girls obliged.
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Coco Jones Gives Her Best Beyoncé as Next Surprise Guest
Newly minted Grammy winner Coco Jones arrived onstage at the tail end of Timberlake’s “Until the End of Time,” which was released as a 2007 duet with Beyoncé, and she filled in for just a taste of Queen Bey’s wordless vocal runs to wrap the song. After sharing an onstage hug, Timberlake prompted the crowd: “Do you know about this voice up here? Don’t act like you don’t know about this voice!” That led into the first live performance of Jones’ “ICU” remix with Timberlake – yet another perk for a crowd that still didn’t know just how lucky they were.
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A Backstreet Boy Supporting *NSYNC
The first inkling that something special might be happening came when AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys materialized just behind the pit and posted up to get a clear view of the stage during the throwback DJ set. A lot was made of the rivalry between BSB and *NSYNC back in their heyday, but in the decades since, they’ve spoken highly of each other, collaborated together and basically just lifted up their boy-band brethren. So it was sweet to see McLean front and center for this bit of TRL-worthy history.
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‘Ladies & Gentlemen, We Are *NSYNC’
Timberlake spoke those heart-warming words after the quintet rocked with DJ tracks of “Gone” and “Girlfriend” before giving mini-performances of arguably their most enduring hits: “Bye Bye Bye” and “It’s Gonna Be Me.” But that was just the beginning.
“So we did those,” JC Chasez said of the four classics. “But you have an album coming out tomorrow. And on that album, there’s a song…”
“… By *NSYNC,” Timberlake said to finish his sentence.
“We’ve practiced the song,” Chasez said, to which Timberlake added: “Y’all wanna hear the new song?”
The new song was the lilting ballad “Paradise,” and it got its world debut on Wednesday night at The Wiltern, following a snippet posted to Timberlake’s socials earlier that day. The chorus couldn’t have had more fitting lyrics for the fans who had hoped for this very performance: “’Cause I waited/ I’ve been waiting forever/ Right here for this moment/ Between you and I/ Everything has happened/ It’s just what I imagined/ Imagined it would feel like/ Paradise.”
“I love you guys so much,” Timberlake said as he hugged his bandmates on their way offstage.
Who knows what the future holds for the blockbuster boy band, but one thing is certain: They are now well aware of how much they’ve been missed since going on hiatus more than 20 years ago. Will this lead to a new album? A tour? We’ll just have to settle for this little slice of “Paradise” for now.
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Full Setlist
Sanctified (with Tobe Nwigwe)
SexyBack
LoveStoned
Like I Love You
My Love
No Angels
Selfish
What Goes Around…Comes Around
Señorita
Summer Love
Rock Your Body
Suit & Tie
Until the End of Time (with Coco Jones)
ICU remix (with Coco Jones)
Cry Me a RiverDJ set
-Holy Grail (Jay-Z)
-Carry Out (Timbaland)
-Give It to Me (Timbaland)
-Ayo Technology (50 Cent)*NSYNC set
-Gone
-Girlfriend
-Bye Bye Bye
-It’s Gonna Be Me
-ParadiseMirrors