Key Takeaways
- Lance Bass said NSYNC members received a $35 daily allowance and earned only $5,000 to $10,000 during the group’s peak.
- Bass recalled getting a first check for $10,000 after "years of number one albums" and sold-out tours, saying he "hardly made money with NSYNC."
- The group's manager, Lou Pearlman, later received a 25-year prison sentence for crimes tied to a long-running Ponzi scheme and died behind bars in 2016.
Lance Bass has exposed the dismal amount that he made during his run in 2000s boy band NSYNC.
On the Thursday (October 8) episode of The Zach Sang Show, the singer and television host recalled the disappointing reality of receiving between $5,000 and $10,000 during the band's peak.
"Our first check was a $10,000 check after years of number one albums, sellout tours," Bass said in the clip below.
Bass, who claimed that the band members, including frontman Justin Timberlake, were allotted a per diem of $35, described the payment as insignificant considering the years of work they'd put in.
"And then they finally give us a check for $10,000. They're like, oh, thanks. We should be grateful for that. We've been working for free for two, three years now," he said.
The 47-year-old added that it’s "so weird" that the public's perception is that he's "filthy rich," although he "hardly made money with NSYNC." After being seven years active and releasing four albums, the group disbanded in 2002 and reunited briefly from 2023 to 2024, notably for song "Better Place" on the Trolls World Tour soundtrack.
The group was managed by late music executive Lou Pearlman, who was also credited for launching the careers of Backstreet Boys and Aaron Carter. Pearlman was convicted in 2008 on multiple charges including money laundering, conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud in connection to a long-running Ponzi scheme. After a 25-year sentence, he died in prison in 2016 at 62 years old.
