Lance Bass reveals shockingly low amount he claims he earned while in *NSYNC: ‘Working for free’
Lance Bass claimed he was given a per diem of just $35 a day while rising to fame with *NSYNC.
The former boy-bander said during Thursday’s episode of “The Zach Sang Show” that “Our first check was $10,000,” noting that the shockingly low amount came after “years of number one albums” and “sellout tours.”
“I don’t know how many millions I made off of merchandise because merchandise was insane,” he recalled.
Bass claimed that when he and his bandmates — Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone — were “finally” given a check for $10,000, they were told, “You should be grateful for that. You’ve been working for free for two, three years now.”
As for his current situation, Bass, now 47, claimed that while he “for sure” gets residuals, “it’s not much.”
“People think I’m so filthy rich from *NSYNC, but no,” he insisted. “Not at all.”
Though Bass said he “did well” after the band went on hiatus in 2002 and he’s “very proud of everything [he] did after that,” he doubled down.
“I didn’t make money with *NSYNC, like, hardly at all,” he claimed of the band, which formed in 1995.
Bass further alleged that though he and his bandmates didn’t make a fortune from their talents, “the label” and Lou Pearlman — their infamous late music manager — “made a f–k ton.”
Pearlman, who ultimately was jailed in 2008 after being convicted of money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, and conspiracy, died in prison in 2016.
When asked if the singer carried “resentment” for the allegedly low earnings, he responded “not anymore” — but admitted he felt he was cheated.
“Everyone kept saying, ‘You’re young, you’re young,'” he recalled. “Well, who cares if you’re young? You still need to make a living and set yourself up for the future because [in] most of these cases, it’s a finite time of being able to do something like that, and no one set us up for life after that.”
This isn’t the first time Bass has claimed he was shortchanged during his tenure in the world-famous “Bye Bye Bye” group.
Back in 2023, Bass called people thinking they were rich due to the band’s success “the worst thing.”
“We were famous, but we were not rich,” he confessed during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show.”
“I made way more money after *NSYNC than I did during *NSYNC.”
Still, he said, “obviously” being part of the boy band at the height of its fame changed his life and trajectory.
“We had a great support system,” he said. “I’m glad I was in a band, because I had four of my brothers that kept you down to earth.”
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