Lance Bass

Lance Bass Bio

James Lance Bass (born May 4, 1979) is an American singer, actor, dancer, and producer who rose to fame as the bass vocalist for the boy band NSYNC. Born and raised in Laurel, Mississippi, Bass helped transform NSYNC into one of the best-selling pop groups of all time with over 70 million records sold worldwide. Following the group’s massive success, Bass pursued acting in film and television while establishing himself as a prominent entertainment industry figure, television personality, and LGBTQ rights advocate.

Early Life and Background

James Lance Bass was born in Laurel, Mississippi, to James Irvin Bass Jr., a medical technologist, and Diane Pulliam, a middle school mathematics and English teacher. He grew up in nearby Ellisville alongside his older sister, Stacy, in a devoutly Christian Southern Baptist household. Bass has described his childhood as “extremely happy” and credits his conservative family with providing a supportive upbringing.

As a young boy, Bass developed a deep fascination with space exploration. At age 9, he traveled to Cape Canaveral, Florida, with his father to watch his first Space Shuttle launch. Bass later attended space camp in Titusville, Florida, and aspired to study engineering in college with the goal of working for NASA. When he was 11, his family relocated to Clinton, Mississippi, after his father was transferred to a different hospital.

During high school at Clinton High School, Bass joined the Mississippi Show Stoppers, a statewide music group, and the Attaché Show Choir, an award-winning competitive show choir. He also became part of a seven-man vocal group named Seven Card Stud, which performed at various social and political events. Bass served as vice president of his junior class and excelled in math and science, though he has noted that his primary focus was on singing and performing.

Path to Entertainment

In 1995, during his junior year of high school, Bass received a call from Justin Timberlake and his mother, Lynn Harless, asking if he would audition for NSYNC after the group’s original bass singer departed. Bass traveled to audition in front of the other bandmembers and was quickly accepted into the group. He left school to move to Orlando, Florida, and rehearse full-time, even though he had never learned to dance before joining. According to a VH1 episode, the president of BMG’s German division initially offered NSYNC a recording contract only if they replaced Bass, but band member Chris Kirkpatrick refused to accept the deal without him.

After establishing themselves in Europe, NSYNC was signed to the American record label RCA in 1997. Their first single “I Want You Back” gained major radio play in the United States, and the group soon became an “overnight sensation.” Bass has described this period in his autobiography as “the death of my own innocence.” The band also engaged in a highly publicized legal battle with their manager Lou Pearlman, whom they sued for allegedly fraudulent business practices that had cost them more than half of their earnings.

Lance Bass Career

NSYNC Success (1997–2002)

NSYNC released their album No Strings Attached in March 2000, which became the fastest-selling record of all time at that point, moving 1.1 million copies in its first day. The group followed up with Celebrity in 2001, achieving the second-highest first-week album sales ever. NSYNC sold over 56 million records worldwide during their peak years. In 2002, the group announced they would take a “hiatus” to pursue individual projects. Bass has stated that he believes NSYNC has officially disbanded, though the group reunited briefly in September 2023 to record “Better Place” for the Trolls Band Together soundtrack.

Acting and Film

Bass made his acting debut guest-starring on the television series 7th Heaven before landing his first starring role in the 2001 film On the Line, which he also produced through his company Bacon & Eggs. The film featured appearances from Jerry Stiller, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, and several NSYNC bandmates. Despite heavy marketing toward teen fans, the film performed poorly at the box office, grossing only $4.2 million against a $10 million budget. Bass later said the film’s release date, one week after the September 11 attacks, severely impacted its commercial prospects.

Notable Works and Milestones

Following On the Line, Bass appeared in supporting roles in films including Zoolander, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and Tropic Thunder. He voiced characters in animated series such as Robot Chicken, Kim Possible, and Handy Manny. Bass made his Broadway debut in August 2007, playing Corny Collins in the musical Hairspray for a six-month run that ended in January 2008. In 2013, he guest-starred in the Gravity Falls episode “Boyz Crazy,” playing a character in the parody boy band Sev’ral Timez.

Television and Production

Bass competed on season 7 of Dancing with the Stars, finishing in third place alongside dance partner Lacey Schwimmer. He later joined season 2 of The Meredith Vieira Show in 2015 as a contributing panelist. In 2017, Bass and his mother competed together on the Fox reality cooking series My Kitchen Rules, finishing as runners-up. He has also appeared as a guest on game shows including 25 Words or Less and served as a panelist on the business investment series Unicorn Hunters in 2021.

In January 2001, Bass co-founded the production company A Happy Place (later renamed Bacon & Eggs), which produced On the Line and the 2005 film Lovewrecked. He later formed Lance Bass Productions and, in October 2011, debuted his own boy band called Heart2Heart. In 2013, Bass became an executive producer of the documentary film Kidnapped for Christ, which premiered on Showtime in 2014.

Space Tourism Ambitions

In 2002, Bass became deeply involved in an effort to secure a seat on a Russian Soyuz space capsule through a documentary project. He underwent cosmonaut training at Star City, Russia, and was certified by both NASA and the Russian Space Program after several months of rigorous training, which included surgery to correct a cardiac arrhythmia. Bass was scheduled to fly on the Soyuz TMA-1 mission in October 2002, but after multiple sponsors withdrew their financial support, he was denied a seat on the flight. He has since served as a board member of the National Space Society since 2004.

Lance Bass Award Nominations

Throughout his career, Bass has received recognition primarily within the LGBTQ advocacy community. Following his public coming out in 2006, he was nominated for several visibility and advocacy-related honors focused on his contributions to equality and representation in entertainment.

Lance Bass Awards Won

Bass has been recognized for both his entertainment achievements and his advocacy work. He received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award in October 2006 for his contributions to LGBTQ visibility and acceptance.

Lance Bass Family

Bass is the son of James Irvin Bass Jr. and Diane Pulliam Bass. His mother was a middle school teacher in Mississippi who later served as a chaperone during NSYNC’s early touring years when Bass was still a minor. His father worked as a medical technologist. Bass has an older sister named Stacy. He is the godfather to former NSYNC bandmate Joey Fatone’s two daughters, Briahna and Kloey.

Personal Life

Bass came out as gay in a cover story for People magazine on July 26, 2006, a decision he made after months of media speculation about his orientation. He described feeling “more liberated and happy than I’ve been my whole life.” Bass received overwhelming support from teenagers and young adults who had grown up listening to NSYNC. He was awarded the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award later that same year, though the honor sparked some controversy within the LGBTQ community regarding his advocacy record.

Bass dated actress Danielle Fishel throughout 1999 and 2000 and later had relationships with Reichen Lehmkuhl, Pedro Andrade, and Ben Thigpen before meeting painter and actor Michael Turchin in January 2011. The couple became engaged in September 2013 and married on December 20, 2014, at the Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The televised wedding special made Bass and Turchin the first same-sex couple to exchange vows on cable television. After several surrogacy attempts, including a miscarriage in March 2020, the couple welcomed twins—a son and a daughter—in October 2021.