Ariana Grande has been on a ‘90s kick as she gears up for her upcoming headlining performance at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
TMZ confirmed on Friday, April 12, that the “Thank U, Next” singer, 25, will be performing with ‘NSync, sans Justin Timberlake, in Indio, California, on Sunday, April 14.
The pop star shared two boy band-inspired videos on Twitter one day prior, which led fans to speculate that they may be her special guest when she hits the stage.
Ariana first tweeted an adorable throwback video of her mom, Joan Grande, holding her as a child in the audience at ‘NSync’s July 1999 concert in Sunrise, Florida.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) April 11, 2019
An hour later, the Grammy winner uploaded a current video of herself doing the original choreography from the group’s 1997 single “Tearin’ Up My Heart” in her dressing room. “The best medicine,” she captioned the clip. “90s baby.”
the best medicine 🖤 90s baby 🎧📹 pic.twitter.com/lQuTf2Udoo
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) April 11, 2019
Ariana’s longtime manager, Scooter Braun, has also been fueling speculation about her festival gig. On Wednesday, April 10, he cryptically tweeted, “Coachella you have no idea what’s coming!!!!” The next day, he responded to Ariana’s video from the 1999 ‘NSync concert, writing, “Little Ari and Nsync 🙂 #tbt.”
Coachella you have no idea what’s coming!!!!
— Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) April 11, 2019
Little Ari and Nsync 🙂 #tbt https://t.co/L5RleafWii
— Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) April 11, 2019
Naturally, the tweets drove Arianators into overdrive, with many pointing to another possible clue: The pop star recently sampled ‘NSync’s 2000 album cut “It Makes Me Ill” on her single “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.”
“If ariana will bring out sync during her coachella performance.. consider me dead,” one fan tweeted. Another wrote, “Maybe Ariana can be the one to reunite *NSYNC.”
A third Twitter user echoed, “Calling it right now *nsync makes an appearance in ariana’s coachella set.”
Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick formed ‘NSync in 1995. They went on to release three studio albums, including the record-breaking No Strings Attached, before splitting up in 2002. The band reunited for a one-off performance during Timberlake’s career-spanning medley at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards and more recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
