'NSYNC

Lou Pearlman, the record producer/manager who launched huge boy bands including 'NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, has died in prison.

Pearlman faced a slew of lawsuit by members of the 2 famous groups, claiming he screwed them out of their cash by collecting money for both producing and managing.

He became obsessed in the 80's with the enormous success of New Kids on the Block, and launched his own record company. He conducted a $3 million talent search and found 5 unknowns to form a band -- Nick Carter, A.J. McClean, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough. The Backstreet Boys went on to become the best selling boy band of all time, selling 130 million records.

His encore was enormous as well ... 'NSync sold 55 million records and launched the careers of Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick.

Pearlman got in a heap of legal trouble in 2008 ... he was convicted of one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history, swindling 1,700 people out of half-a-billion bucks.

He was serving a 25-year-sentence.

Lance Bass tweeted, "He might not have been a stand-up businessman, but I wouldn't be doing what I love today without his influence. RIP Lou."

Cause of death is unknown.

There was an 'NSYNC reunion Monday night, and Justin Timberlake performed with the group -- sort of.

Justin, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, and Chris Kirkpatrick sang "Happy Birthday" to JC, who turned 40.

Timberlake was surly as he left The Nice Guy, telling the paparazzi to "shut the f*** up." Joey, on the other hand, was friendly and hilarious ... and clearly somewhat intoxicated.

Lance Bass and Joey Fatone jumped ship for a night ... doing a more than respectable rendition of a Backstreet Boys song.

Lance is the featured performer on a Caribbean cruise. With Joey in tow they hosted some karaoke and broke into "I Want It That Way."

As if Ryan Gosling doesn't have enough going for him -- he's also a better singer than Justin Timberlake ... at least that's what A.J. McLean thinks.

The Backstreet Boys singer gave us some insider boy band 411 about the rumor Gosling auditioned for a spot in 'N Sync. You gotta hear his comparison of the Mickey Mouse Club alums ... 'cause it's straight up blasphemy, if you're a JT fan.

Also interesting, his memory of a bromantic experience -- watching girl on girl porn with the rest of his BSB group mates ... 'cause they wanted it that way.

Lance Bass is now saying he was sexually harassed as a teenager in 'N Sync -- and although he didn't name the person who did it ... the new allegation sounds eerily similar to things he's said about the group's ex-manager.

Bass and his co-hosts on "The Meredith Vieira Show" were talking about Ashley Judd's recent sexual harassment allegations ... when he opened up about his own experience.

Lance says he was inappropriately touched by someone he worked with when he was 16 or 17. He does not mention 'N Sync's former manager Lou Pearlman by name.

In the past, Lance has said of Lou ... "He'd always grab our arms and feel our muscles and go: 'Hey boys, you workin' out? Yeahhhh!'" He added that he didn't think of the touching as crossing any line.

Numerous reports have claimed Pearlman molested several of his young proteges, but he was never charged with any crime. He did get busted for embezzlement and is serving 25 years in prison.

Lance Bass isn't sure if he'll see a gay president in his lifetime, but he thinks there has definitely been a little same-sex lovin' in the Oval Office at some point.

Our photog caught up with Bass after his gig judging the Queen of the Universe Pageant and asked him the stereotypical gay-themed question (memo to photogs: Lance can talk about other things).

But the always-entertaining Bass made it fun ... saying the odds are at some time in history "someone in the White House has slept with the same sex."

He then jokingly added, "I'm looking at you, Roosevelt." Which raises the question ...

Joey Fatone just said bye, bye, bye to balding -- the ex *NSYNC singer has a brand new 'do, and it's totally real ... courtesy of Bosley hair restoration.

Joey says he started going bald during *NSYNC's heyday, but wore hats to hide it ... adding, "It was pretty intimidating. That's life, but the beautiful thing is that now you can do something about it."

If Fatone sounds like a pitchman ... it's because he is now. Joey just shot a new commercial for Bosley.

If only something could have been done about Justin Timberlake's cornrows.

JT channeled a little MJ during his show in L.A. last night -- busting out one of Michael's greatest hits ... and the crowd went wild.

Timberlake kicked off the Western leg of "The 20/20 Experience" tour at Staples Center on Tuesday ... and played a bunch of his own hits -- including "My Love," "Holy Grail" and "Sexy Back."

Then he turned to Michael Jackson ... and covered "Human Nature." Check out the clip.

Justin's show was packed with huge celebs -- including Matt Damon, Amy Adams ... and JT's old boyband mate Lance Bass (who had a special "friends and family" VIP pass).

As for JC, Joey or the other one ... so far, it's unclear if they were there too.

Hollywood got all 1998 on Joey Fatone last night, and it was spectacular -- as a simple photo with 2 female fans turned into an exhibition of nipple piercings.

Joey was walking out of Beacher's Madhouse in Hollywood when a convo with him about Britney Spears was thankfully interrupted by a couple of adoring fans ... who asked our camera guy to snap a pic.

One girl immediately says, "I was going to show you my nipple piercing" -- and even though Joey says that's not necessary ... sometimes s**t happens.

Three awesome reasons to watch this clip: 1) The girl who flashes her boob ... 2) Joey squirming while it happens .... and 3)see reason#1.

Joey Fatone tells TMZ ... Kevin Hart was probably right -- there's a decent chance he DID let one rip during the *NSYNC reunion at the MTV VMAs.

Fatone arrived back to L.A. yesterday -- where we immediately grilled him for LYING TO OUR FACES in the days before the show ... when he told us he wasn't in NYC for a surprise performance.

Of course, Fatone insisted he wasn't lying -- that he really was in NYC for a birthday party and not for the VMAs ... but c'mon man!!!!! (Your pal Chris already admitted the plan was in motion a couple of weeks ago. Busted!!!).

But back to the mystery fart ... Joey says if he did blast one during the VMAs (as Kevin joked in the moments following the performance) Fatone says there's a reason the comic would know ... and it all has to do with Kevin's height (5'4").

Check out the clip.

Chris Kirkpatrick is tearin' up the hearts of girls in their 20's (and 30's (and 40's (and 50's))) across the country -- after announcing on the radio this morning that last night's *NSYNC reunion won't happen EVER AGAIN!!

Chris went on the Miami radio show "Johnny's House" early Monday morning to discuss last night's not-really-a-surprise SURPRISE performance ... and dropped all the details about how the whole thing came together.

Chris says he got a call from Justin Timberlake a few weeks ago out of the blue ... who asked if he was available to perform at the VMAs. Chris' response -- a resounding HELL YES (duh).

The guys headed down to Miami to rehearse and that's where Chris says Justin dropped two bombshells: He didn't tell MTV about his top secret plans and yes, dancing would be involved.

The interviewer then asked about rumors of a possible reunion tour -- but sadly CK shot them down saying the reunion was a one time thing to support JT.

Sorry Chris. And Joey. And Lance. And you too J.C.

It happened ... *NSYNC JUST PERFORMED ON STAGE ... but if you blinked you might have missed it.

Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, J.C. Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone performed together at the VMAs for the first time since 2003 ... singing a tiny bit of "Bye, Bye, Bye" during JT's giant solo number.

Then they too went bye, bye, bye. So we gotta ask ...

It's happening ... it's really, really happening ... *NSYNC is reuniting on the VMA stage -- this according to the band's official Twitter.

It's kind of ironic ... Twitter didn't even exist when *NSYNC was famous -- but that didn't stop the boy band from all-but-confirming their HIGHLY anticipated MTV performance in 140 characters or less, writing, "mic check, mic check one ... two ... is this thing on?!"

Joey Fatone has arrived to New York ... where he's rumored to reunite with *NSYNC at the MTV VMAs this weekend ... but when we asked him about it, he seemed to be LYING like a rug.

Don't get us wrong ... he totally denied being in NYC for the alleged performance. But c'mon Joey ...

Now we're no Columbo ... but we think we know when someone's playing games with our heart (wrong band, but you get the idea).

So, we gotta ask ...

Jason Collins is not currently the member of any NBA team, but he's part of a different club of sorts these days ... and membership gets you a congratulatory handshake from Lance Bass.

We spotted Collins and Bass outside Boa in West Hollywood Friday night. Collins was there with his twin brother Jarron and Bass was there with a group of buds. Our photog asked Jason about his dating life ... but the bballer prefers to keep his personal life close to the vest.