Stray Kids perform *NSYNC tribute, “Chk Chk Boom” at AMAs 50th Special

On Sunday evening (October 6), the American Music Awards celebrated its half-century with the two-hour ceremony American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special on CBS. The evening featured various walks down memory lane as well as new performances from today’s greatest artists, each representing a different genre of music. As a tribute to the boy band, Stray Kids took to the AMAs stage and delivered the most visually incredible and energetic performance of the night.

At the start of the performance, strings hung from the ceiling, each attached to different members’ limbs, in homage to *NSYNC’s puppet-inspired performance of “Bye Bye Bye” at the 2000 American Music Awards. And it wasn’t just a visual reference – that *NSYNC smash hit blared from the speakers, and Stray Kids put their own spin on his choreography before singing their own banger, “Chk Chk Boom.” Each black-clad member of the South Korean boy band oozed energy, attitude and cool, supported by a fleet of backup dancers. Towards the end of their set, they mixed in a bit of “Bye Bye Bye” into the “Chk Chk Boom” mix before finishing it to thunderous applause.

Before Stray Kids, Lance Bass of *NSYNC and AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys introduced them and talked about the boy band legacy of the AMAs. “Fifty years, the American Music Awards have been around long enough that a lot of boy bands grew up watching the show,” Bass said. “Lance and I are proud to be part of this legacy at the American Music Awards,” McLean added. “A boy band legacy to remember and even scream for.”

Before you enter the AMAs 50th Anniversary Special Stage, billboard‘s Tetris Kelly caught up with Stray Kids, who thanked them for being there and paid homage to the boy bands that came before them, including *NSYNC.

The American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special is produced by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation (PMC) and a joint venture between PMC and Eldrige. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.