NSYNC Choreographer Gets Emotional Over ‘Bye Bye Bye’ Dance in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
The opening of Marvel‘s Deadpool & Wolverine makes striking use of “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC. NSYNC’s choreographer revealed that the dance in the song’s music video was connected to the apocalypse. He also compared the dance to famous moves by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ started a viral trend surrounding NSYNC’s ‘Bye Bye Bye’
In 2024, Forbes reported that Deadpool & Wolverine caused the dance from the “Bye Bye Bye” music video to reemerge on TikTok. Numerous people are recreating the moves as part of a viral trend. Darrin Henson, the creator of the dance, had some strong emotions about this new trend.
“To see it have a resurgence again has been a spectrum of emotional colors, as you can imagine,” he said. “I created it in a time period where people thought the world was coming to an end [with Y2K], and I was actually connecting the world through dance. So, 24 years later, to actually see a new generation of youth participate in the energy of the dance is really wonderful.”
Darrin Henson said his work with NSYNC has a huge legacy
Henson gave us a lot of great choreography over the years. He was behind dance routines by other 1990s/2000s icons like Britney Spears and the Spice Girls. All these years later, he considers the “Bye Bye Bye” routine his magnum opus.
“This dance really is the king of hill when it comes to the choreography that I have created,” he stresses. “Growing up, you got to see Michael Jackson in ‘Beat It’ and ‘Smooth Criminal;’ Janet Jackson in ‘Rhythm Nation;’ and John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. To be a part of that, to know that ‘Bye Bye Bye’ stands in the same space as these timeless dances, is pretty incredible.”
Henson might be getting ahead of himself. We have no idea if the “Bye Bye Bye” dance will be as indelible as “Beat It” or Saturday Night Fever. Despite this, the fact that people care about his choreography for “Bye Bye Bye” 24 years after that song debuted is a step in the right direction for his legacy.
The resurgence of “Bye Bye Bye” is part of modern pop culture’s fascination with the early 2000s. Deadpool & Wolverine also makes use of other tunes from the era, like Avril Lavigne’s “I’m with You.” In the past year, we’ve also seen other nods to the 2000s, such as Halsey’s redux of Britney Spears’ “Lucky” and the musical remake of Mean Girls.
How ‘Bye Bye Bye’ performed on the charts
“Bye Bye Bye” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Besides “It’s Gonna Be Me” and “Music of My Heart,” “Bye Bye Bye” was NSYNC’s highest-charting single. The tune lasted on the chart for 23 weeks.
NSYNC included “Bye Bye Bye” on the album No Strings Attached. That record topped the Billboard 200 for eight weeks, the band’s personal record. No Strings Attached lasted on the chart for 82 weeks altogether. Love or hate No Strings Attached, it captured the sound of early 2000s pop like few other albums.
“Bye Bye Bye” was one of NSYNC’s biggest hits and Deadpool & Wolverine proved it has relevance in the modern day.
