JC Chasez Says *NSYNC Fans 'Were Not Excited to See' Britney Spears on Tour in 1998, But That Changed Fast

11/22/2024 12:40 PM

"A week into playing shows, it was like a total flip," Chasez said on the 'And That's What You Really Missed' podcast

It's hard to imagine any crowd not going absolutely bonkers for Britney Spears. But according to JC Chasez, *NSYNC's fans were initially chilly toward the pop star when she opened for the band on tour in 1998.

On the latest episode of Glee rewatch podcast And That's What You Really Missed, Chasez called the dates on *NSYNC's 1998 to 1999 tour when Spears opened for the band "the stuff of legends."

"It was our first, like, big tour in America and she was just starting out, and it was crazy," he said.

Chasez noted that he and Justin Timberlake had starred alongside Spears in The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in the early '90s, and they were rooting for her. "We wanted her to win so bad," he said.

But according to Chasez, *NSYNC's fans didn't initially share the band's enthusiasm for the young singer, whose debut single, "…Baby One More Time," came out in September 1998, a little more than a month before her first show with the band.

"It was, like, the very first show we went out there, and they were not excited to see her because it was a girl who's around all the guys that they liked," Chasez, 48, recalled to hosts Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale. "We weren't even on the stage together, but they just associated it that way, the fans in the audience. So, for like, the first couple numbers, they'd be like quiet or there'd be some, like, hissing and a little bit of, like, negativity. A little booing."

"We felt so bad. Like, our hearts broke," Chasez added. "She was going out there, like, giving it. And it's just like, the audience, they were just kinda mad at her just for being there at first."

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*NSYNC could relate, having just opened for Janet Jackson during the U.S. leg of her Velvet Rope tour in October 1998. "We would have to win the audience over," Chasez recalled. "Because they're not there to see us. They're there for an R&B show and here we are, a pop show."

"Winning a crowd when they're not there for you is one of the best things you can do, is one of the best skills you can learn as a performer," he added.

Things quickly changed for Spears as "…Baby One More Time" continued to climb the charts in late 1998.

"A week into playing shows, it was like a total flip," Chasez recalled. "It was incredible to see."

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As *NSYNC fans' enthusiasm for Spears grew, Chasez remembered thinking, "Oh, so we're the main act, and yet, oh, they really like [Spears's] song. Oh, they really like her. Okay. She's not gonna stay as the opening act much longer. We're gonna have to find somebody else to help us out."

Spears ultimately did end up continuing to open for *NSYNC through January 1999. That same month, she released her debut album …Baby One More Time and embarked on her first headlining tour the following June.