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Lance Bass jokes Gen Z kids who don't recognize NSYNC is a result of 'bad parenting'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated Apr 14, 2021 5:32 PM ET

*NSYNC's evergreen appeal makes it feel as if the iconic boy band was together for decades, but the reality is that Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Justin Timberlake were only bonded from 1997 to 2001.

In just four years, *NSYNC landed two No. 1 albums (No Strings Attached, Celebrity) and six top-10 Hot 100 hits ("It's Gonna Be Me," "Bye Bye Bye," "Music Of My Heart," "Girlfriend," "This I Promise You," "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time On You"). That's surely enough to impress Gen Z, even though they likely weren't born during the group's apex, right?

Nope.

At least not 22-year-old Chloe from Season 2 of Netflix's The Circle:

Bass has experienced the opposite end of the spectrum—enjoying three million likes and counting on TikTok—and isn't offended by Chloe's blindspot. "The Gen Z kids are really loving it," the 41-year-old told Entertainment Weekly. "If no one knows the group NSYNC at that age, that's just bad parenting right there."

Bass has an adjacent role in Season 2 of the reality competition, too, though not technically one of the cast members:

Lance Bass' assistant Lisa Delcampo appears in season 2 of Netflix's 'The Circle' to try to win the competition. https://t.co/Kypm6tJTTE
— billboard (@billboard) April 14, 2021

Netflix dropped the first four episodes of The Circle's second season Wednesday. The series pits eight contestants against each other through online profiles where they "flirt, befriend and catfish" in the name of $100,000.

Megan Armstrong

Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer whose work has appeared in places such as Billboard, GQ, Esquire, Bleacher Report, Uproxx, and others. Megan has also produced various podcasts and hosted a daily radio show at Mizzou. She grew up obsessed with sports — impressing adults by memorizing NFL statistics as a kindergartner — and grew into an obsession with music

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