Lance Bass says he lived on a $35 daily per diem while *NSYNC was selling out arenas and topping the Billboard charts. The singer, 47, discussed the group’s finances during an appearance on The Zach Sang Show, pushing back on assumptions that he grew rich off the band’s success.
“We had a per diem: $35 a day,” Bass said, describing the allowance he and his bandmates received during the height of *NSYNC’s popularity.
Lance Bass NSYNC Pay Per Diem And The First Big Check
Bass said the modest daily stipend came even as *NSYNC racked up number one albums and sold-out tours. He recalled that the group’s first real payday did not arrive until years into the band‘s run.
“Our first check was a $10,000 check after years of No. 1 albums, sellout tours. I don’t know how many millions I made off of merchandise, because merchandise was insane,” Bass said.
He added that he was told to be grateful for that $10,000 check after working for free for two or three years. “People think I’m so filthy rich from *NSYNC, but no. Not at all. I didn’t make money with *NSYNC, like, hardly at all,” Bass said.
The Scale Of NSYNC’s Success At The Time
The pay Bass described stands in contrast to the commercial numbers *NSYNC put up during that era. The group’s 2000 album No Strings Attached sold 2.4 million copies in its first week and spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, a first-week sales record that stood for 15 years. The album’s tour grossed more than $70 million.
*NSYNC, which included Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone alongside Bass, also scored its only Billboard Hot 100 number one single with “It’s Gonna Be Me,” while “Bye Bye Bye” became one of the group’s signature hits. The band’s 2001 album Celebrity debuted at number one as well.
Where Bass Says The Money Went
Bass said most of the money generated by *NSYNC went to the record label and the group’s late manager, Lou Pearlman, who also managed the Backstreet Boys. Pearlman was convicted in 2008 of money laundering, conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud tied to a Ponzi scheme and died in prison in 2016.
Asked whether he still holds resentment over how the band’s earnings were handled, Bass said “not anymore,” though he maintained that he and his bandmates were shortchanged at the time. He said he still receives residuals from *NSYNC but that the amount “is not much,” and that he earned significantly more money after the group went on hiatus in 2002.
“No one set us up for life after that,” Bass said of the band’s financial arrangement.
Recent Comments And Context
Bass has made similar remarks before. In 2023, he told SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show that the band “were famous, but we were not rich.” That same year, *NSYNC briefly reunited to release a new single, “Better Place,” marking one of the group’s rare collaborations since splitting.
Bass did not detail a specific timeline for when the $35 per diem gave way to larger payments, nor did he break down what share of the group’s merchandise revenue reached him personally.
Don't stop here
Every Score. Every Story. One Home.
Breaking sports, entertainment and news from across the Total Apex network, updated all day.
Get the Full Story →
