βItβs Gonna Be Mayβ meme time has arrived β and βN Sync’s Lance Bass and Joey Fatone are embracing it.
Itβs been 25 years since ‘N Sync released the song βItβs Gonna Be Me” as part of the boy band’s “No Strings Attached” album. In an interview with TODAY.com, Bass and Fatone reflect on the success of the track and the timeless fame it reached, thanks to the internet.
Every year, when April is about to turn to May, fans circulate memes that show a snapshot of fellow band member Justin Timberlake and lyrics he sings in the song, which are tweaked to, βItβs Gonna Be May.”
A classic version of the meme simply reads those four words, while another variation asks, “Guess what tomorrow is?” before jumping into, “It’s gonna be May,” among many others that have circulated online.
“‘Itβs Going to Be Mayβ time is always the gift that keeps on giving,β Bass tells TODAY.com.
While Fatone thinks the song is “fun” and “great” on its own, he says the group didn’t see the next-level meme fame coming.
βIt just brought it to a whole other level that we had no idea what was going to happen,β he says of the song becoming a meme. βEvery year right before May, they just start flushing out everywhere.β
But what has helped it stand the test of time? Bass credits the fans.
βItβs the kids out there. Theyβre doing itβ Bass explains. βI mean, memes last forever. Thank goodness. Who knew 25 years from now so remembered out of the way Justin pronounced βme?β Thanks, Justin!β
The duo, who partnered with Great Wolf Lodge for its upcoming May promotion, continue to lean into the popularity of the meme and how it spans across multiple generations.
Bass says his twins, whom he welcomed with his husband, Michael Turchin, via surrogate in October 2021, arenβt old enough to celebrate the meme just yet. But Fatone, a father of two, says his 15-year-old daughter, Kloey, is well aware of the internet trend β and is over it.
βMy daughter, my younger one, sheβs like βOh, the memes are coming!β And she tells everybodyΒ βDonβt send it to me, I donβt care.βΒ So, itβs a fun little thing that they do,β he says of his teenager’s reaction. βItβs like they give it to more my kids in a sense jokingly. But we embrace it. I think itβs funny!β
βWeβre nostalgic. We really are in the sense of that meme,β Fatone adds. βI think it just keeps going generation after generation.β
Bass and Fatone also reflected on the early ‘N Sync years before they went on to hit global mega-stardom.
βWhen I look back at the ‘N Sync days, those first few years are always my favorite,β Bass shares. βWhen we all lived in a house together. We didnβt have a record deal, we were working so hard, and it was just more of an innocent time.”
Fatone echoes how unique those early years were.
βA lot of the boy bands out there will understand what we went through and how we went through it. Not many people can understand that,β says Fatone, who is currently starring on Broadway in “& Juliet.”
βWhen we talk to some of the guys from even New Kids (On the Block) or Backstreet (Boys), they can really relate … how fun it was, but also sometimes how challenging it was.”
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