Lance Bass says he made “way more” money after NSYNC broke up than when he was active in the iconic boy band.
During his appearance on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show April 26, when Bass was asked about “being rich and famous really young,” the pop star confessed that he and his fellow bandmates were not as wealthy at the height of their NSYNC fame as fans might expect.
“Well, the worst thing is people thinking that we were rich, because we were not. We were famous, but we were not rich. I made way more money after NSYNC than I did during NSYNC,” Bass shared.
Bass blamed the group’s disgraced former manager Lou Pearlman for the boy band members’ money issues at the time.
“He really took a majority of all of our stuff… [made] horrible, horrible deals,” Bass explained.
Pearlman died at the age of 62 in 2016. He was serving time in federal prison at the time of his death.
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Despite the difficult financial times at the start of his career, Bass credits his fellow NSYNC group members for helping keep him grounded.
“To do that, with those guys, it was incredible. And you had some of the best experiences ever. Obviously, it changed my life, led me to so many things I wanted to do in life… they’re incredible, incredible guys,” Bass gushed.
NYSNC was one of the most popular boy bands of the late ’90s and early 2000s. They scored two Diamond-certified albums with NSYNC and No Strings Attached. Along the way, they released countless hits such as “Bye Bye Bye,” “It’s Gonna Be Me,” “Pop” and “Gone.”
NSYNC has sold over 70 million albums worldwide to date. They are recognized as one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.