Entertainment

Ariana Grande Brought *NSYNC Out During Her Coachella Performance & It Was '90s Perfection

Ariana Grande in a pink dress during her performance
Mike Coppola/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Ariana Grande has been going strong since the release of Sweetener in August of 2018. She's released another whole other album, thank u, next, started her tour, and now performed at her very first Coachella. As the youngest female headliner ever, Grande was sure to make a splash, but her set definitely exceeded expectations thanks, in part, to a little help from her friends. Ariana Grande performed with *NSYNC at Coachella on Saturday, April 14, and gave fans a '90s reunion that brought the house down in Indio, California.

Grande brought out four members of the legendary boy band, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass, to perform with her. The group joined the pop star onstage for a remix of "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored," which famously samples *NSYNC's "It Makes Me Ill." And then, in what can only be described as a pop dream, Grande joined the group for a performance of their breakout hit, "Tearin' Up My Heart." She even joined in on the choreography!

In video of the performance, Grande began "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" solo, and when she announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, *NSYNC," the crowd understandably went wild. From then on, the familiar harmonies were so flawless, you couldn't even tell that only four out of five of the members were there.

After that mashup of sorts, Grande said to her audience, "Coachella, I've been rehearsing my whole motherf*ckin' life for this moment. Make some noise for *NSYNC!" That's when the legendary opening of "Tearin' Up My Heart" came on and Grande fit right in with the band. And you know the moment wouldn't have been complete without the very same moves from the 1997 music video. She took them out on the catwalk and one of the members picked her up and ran her back on stage when they finished. You could really feel this whole segment of her set was a big moment for the singer.

While this was supremely exciting for fans of the band, it's not that shocking. It's been a long time coming — ever since Grande released Thank U, Next, and "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" in February.

Plus, Grande has been dropping major hints on social media in the days leading up to her Coachella performance. On Thursday, April 11, she shared a video of herself at an *NSYNC concert when she was a child on Twitter and Instagram.

The next day, on April 12, she posted a video of herself jamming out to the tune "Tearin' Up My Heart" in her dressing room, with the caption "the best medicine 90s baby."

In an attempt to get fans hyped pre-performance on Sunday, Chasez tweeted out a cryptic tweet, "Mic check, mic check one... two... is this thing on?!?" To which Grande just replied with, "...... sure is."

So now, after it all happened, those hints were very, very obvious. Thank goodness it wasn't just trolling because that would have been far too mean. The group and Grande seemed like they had a really good time rehearsing and meeting each other, as there's many pics from the members on their social.

Ariana's set might have had some technical issues, but this part — and the whole thing — were definitely a Coachella performance to remember.