Today, NSYNC was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — and it’s a very special day indeed. April 30 marks the end of a rain-plagued, weather-confused month and (as we’re finally seeing here on the East Coast) the beginning of springtime sunshine and budding flowers. April 30 is also It’s Gonna Be May day, in case you forgot about the meme inspired by NSYNC members that has, for the past six years around this time, taken the internet by storm.
As Lance Bass, one of these famed NSYNC members, tweeted last month, “How fitting this ceremony will take place on Its Gonna Be May Day! See y’all there! *NSYNC to Receive Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
How fitting this ceremony will take place on Its Gonna Be May Day! See y’all there! *NSYNC to Receive Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame https://t.co/92lgOb16L7
— Lance Bass (@LanceBass) March 20, 2018
The meme comes from the 2000 hit song, “It’s Gonna Be Me,” that die-hard NSYNC fans (and anyone who listened to music in the early 2000s) memorized all the lyrics to.
According to Know Your Meme, the It’s Gonna Be May meme didn’t pick up traction until 2012 when people started sharing it at the end of April in honor of, well, May. It got so popular that even Obama and his social team have joined in on the fun:
JT, who pronounced “me” like “may” in the legendary song, revealed in a 2016 interview with the U.K.’s Capital FM, that producer Max Martin probably wanted him to “sound like I was from Tennessee.” JT has also contributed to the hype, tweeting a day early in April 2016:
Everybody… It is ACTUALLY GONNA BE MAY!#canyoumemeyourself
Probably not, right?
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) April 29, 2016
Then, a day late the next year:
Hey guys… it’s May.
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) May 1, 2017
