For '90s kids, *NSYNC is more than just the band that gave the world Justin Timberlake. Even the most diehard Backstreet Boys fan would agree that the "It's Gonna Be Me" crooners were pop music icons. As someone who went to her own fair share of *NSYNC concerts back in the day, there was nothing quite like being in the center of this fan frenzy. However, now that the band has received their very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there's one particular group of fans *NSYNC member Lance Bass wants to thank.
In 2006, Bass came out as gay on the cover of People Magazine. In his speech at the Hollywood Walk of Fame star reveal, Bass admits that he never had a chance to thank his gay fans during the height of the band's fame.
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"Growing up in Mississippi, in a Southern Baptist church, in a town where everyone knows your business, I had a secret: I was gay. At the time, I thought I'd never be able to tell anyone... I thought if I were to come out, *NSYNC would be over," Bass told the crowd watching the ceremony in Hollywood. "So many nights onstage, I'd see young gay fans singing their hearts out, and I wanted so badly to let you [know that] I was you. I just didn't have the strength then."
Today, Bass is married to Michael Turchin, whom he wed in 2014. The couple became the first same-sex couple to get hitched on an American television network.
There was one more person that the band wanted to thank as well: Robin Wiley, NSYNC's beloved pop vocal arranger, producer, and writer, who died in 2006.
"*NSYNC is made up of an apostrophe and five letters," JC Chasez told the crowd. "Robin Wiley: I always looked at her as the apostrophe in the band."
These sweet *NSYNC speeches are truly tearin' up my heart.