It's safe to say Stray Kids made boy band history at the 50th anniversary of the American Music Awards. The K-pop juggernauts, who have spent most part of the last week in Los Angeles preparing for their AMAs debut, finally took to the stage on October 6, 2024, and wowed everyone with a tribute to *NSYNC.
Before the performance, Stray Kids were introduced on stage by *NSYNC's Lance Bass and Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean, who took the time to take a little trip down memory lane, reminiscing about the boy bands that have taken home trophies at the event — from BTS, Backstreet Boys, and New Edition to New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, One Direction, and, of course, *NSYNC.
The members of Stray Kids then entered the stage as the unmistakable intro to *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye," off the album No Strings Attached, played. Bang Chan, Changbin, Han, Seungmin, and I.N came first as puppets on strings, recreating the *NSYNC's video for the song. Lee Know, Hyunjin, and Felix — also collectively known as DanceRacha — then followed suit with string-less dance solos in different sections of the stage, joining the rest of their members in the center shortly after to take on their most recent title track, “Chk Chk Boom.”
Stray Kids performed the songs in coordinating all-black outfits with leather and mesh accents, slowly but surely adding varsity jackets to their ensembles to go back to a “Bye Bye Bye” dance break before closing off the performance again with “Chk Chk Boom.”
Stray Kids' homage to the previous generation of boy bands seems fitting for the special edition of the AMAs. Though the awards are not slated to return until May 2025, last night's two-hour 50th Anniversary Special celebrated the event's legacy and the stars that have made it what it is today.
Aside from Stray Kids, other performers included Jennifer Hudson, Gladys Knight, Kane Brown, Mariah Carey, Green Day, Brad Paisley, and RAYE. You can watch Stray Kids' performance from the 50th anniversary of the American Music Awards above.
Editor's Note: This post has been updated.
