Stray Kids made their American Music Awards debut during the ceremony’s 50th-anniversary special on Sunday. The K-pop boy band won hearts with their NSYNC-inspired performance. They paid homage to the iconic ’90s boy band with a marionette-style performance of their 2000 hit Bye Bye Bye.
Stray Kids make AMA debut with special NSYNC performance
The two-hour special, which aired on CBS, was a blast from the past, with nostalgic performances from multiple artists, including Green Day, Mariah Carey, Raye, Jennifer Hudson, and Nile Rodgers. As the event marked Stray Kids’ first AMA appearance, they delivered an energetic mash-up performance of their latest single, Chk Chk Boom and NSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye.
All eight members of the K-pop group—Hyujin, I.N., Bang Chan, Han, Felix, Seungmin, Lee Know and Changbin wore matching all-black ensembles featuring embroidered varsity jackets, leather trousers and combat boots. They were introduced onstage by NSYNC’s Lance Bass and Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean.
Prior to Stray Kids’ entry, the duo took a trip down memory lane, highlighting the legacy of various boybands at the AMAs through the years. “Fifty years — the American Music Awards have been around long enough that a lot of boy bands have grown up with the show,” Bass said, while McLean added, “Lance and I are proud to be part of that legacy on the American Music Awards. A boy band legacy worth remembering and even screaming for.”
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Addressing their AMAs debut, Stray Kids told Billboard, “Performing on the AMAs for the first time and doing a collaboration with ‘NSync was very memorable. It was very special.” “We’re the ones performing on stage, we’re the ones singing the lyrics. Might as well make it more genuine by making what we want to express and making what we want to perform,” they added.