Lance Bance Says He Didn't Think 'It's Gonna Be May' Meme Would Become a 'National Holiday'

It's that time of year.

As April cycles into May again, one thing can be certain: some version of an early 2000s era-Justin Timberlake proclaiming “It’s gonna be May” is going to pop up on social media.

On Friday, to celebrate the day dedicated to NSYNC's hit song "It's Gonna Be Me," band member Lance Bass appeared on Good Morning America via video chat to discuss the yearly tradition.

"Who knew it would become a national holiday this many years later," Bass, 40, admitted, going on to explain the origin of the meme.

"But it's thanks to a fan Kianna — she’s the one who created it back in 2012, that meme, and it just blew up," he said.

The meme has become so popular that the song title is now paying tribute to the misheard line on streaming services, GMA co-anchor Amy Robach shared.

"The song has been changed on streaming services to now include the meme, at least until next week," she said, showing a photo of the song title on Spotify now appearing as "It's Gonna Be Me - It's Gonna Be May."

To commemorate the "holiday" himself, Timberlake shared a coronavirus-related version of the meme on his Instagram Story on Thursday.

In the picture, the original meme — which features Timberlake's iconic curly hairstyle — picked up an extra accessory: a face mask to protect the singer from the ongoing pandemic.

"Spring Summer 2020. Thanks for this, internet," the 39-year-old wrote.

The “Mirror” singer explained his decision to sing the titular line with a distinctive twang in 2016, telling a U.K. radio station that he was instructed to do so by the song’s co-writer Max Martin.

“In my defense, Max Martin made me sing ‘me’ that way,” he said. “I think he just wanted me to sound like I was from Tennessee.”

Bass later backed up the origin story in an interview with The Cheat Sheet, saying Timberlake was told by Martin to make it “sound more like it’s gonna be May” and the suggestion “kinda just stuck.”

Timberlake has embraced the meme several times, tweeting in 2016: “Everybody… It is ACTUALLY GONNA BE MAY! #canyoumemeyourself Probably not, right?"

One year later, he wrote, “Hey guys… it’s May” on May 1.

Last year, he captioned a shortened clip from the “It’s Gonna Be Me” video with “YOU ALREADY KNOW.”

The other members of *NSYNC — Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Bass — have also been known to have fun with it, with Fatone writing on Instagram this year, “Ok one more time," alongside a video of the song.

In 2014, the saying was popular enough that President Barack Obama couldn’t resist jumping on the bandwagon. Obama posted a picture of himself and Timberlake on Facebook on April 30 with the now-iconic caption; it has since racked up nearly half a million likes.

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