*NSYNC Back on Billboard Hot 100 for First Time Since 2002 With ‘Better Place’
Written by djfrosty on October 9, 2023
*NSYNC’s first single since 2002, “Better Place,” brings the group back to the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Oct. 14) for the first time since that year, following the song’s first week of release.
The track, released Sept. 29 on DreamWorks/RCA Records from the Trolls Band Together soundtrack, due Oct. 20 (ahead of the movie’s expected Nov. 17 premiere), starts at No. 25 on the Hot 100. It tallied 29 million radio airplay audience impressions and 4.8 million official streams and sold 17,000 downloads in the United States in the tracking week ending Oct. 5, according to Luminate.
Notably, “Better Place” ties *NSYNC’s highest Hot 100 start: the group’s debut hit, “I Want You Back,” began at No. 25 on the March 7, 1998-dated chart.
The new single concurrently begins at No. 2 on the Digital Song Sales chart and No. 21 on Radio Songs. The latter marks the highest entrance for a song by a group since Radio Songs began including all-format airplay in 1998; second-best for a group in a lead role in that span? *NSYNC’s “Pop” (No. 24, 2001).
As previously reported, “Better Place” bounds in at No. 12 on Adult Pop Airplay, No. 13 on Adult Contemporary and No. 16 on Pop Airplay.
*NSYNC adds its 13th Hot 100 hit, and 11th top 40 entry, and first since “Girlfriend,” featuring Nelly, spent its last week on the chart (dated June 22, 2002).
Here’s an updated recap of *NSYNC’s top 40 Hot 100 hits:
No. 1 peak (two weeks), “It’s Gonna Be Me,” July 29, 2000
No. 2, “Music of My Heart” (with Gloria Estefan), Oct. 16, 1999
No. 4, “Bye Bye Bye,” April 15, 2000
No. 5, “Girlfriend (feat. Nelly), April 6, 2002
No. 5, “This I Promise You,” Dec. 2, 2000
No. 8, “(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You,” Feb. 27, 1999
No. 11, “Gone,” Nov. 24, 2001
No. 13, “I Want You Back,” May 2, 1998
No. 19, “Pop,” June 16, 2001
No. 25 (to date), “Better Place,” Oct. 14, 2023
No. 29, “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You” (Alabama feat. *NSYNC), Aug. 21, 1999
(*NSYNC missed another likely another top 40 Hot 100 hit with “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” which peaked at No. 59 in December 1998; although promoted to radio, the song was not released as a stand-alone single for purchase and, thus, was ineligible to chart on the Hot 100 until that month, when such a restriction was lifted. The song, from the group’s self-titled debut album, rose to No. 15 on Radio Songs in October 1998.)
Ahead of the release of “Better Place,” the group’s Justin Timberlake shared on Instagram a behind-the-scenes look at the quintet back in the studio. “So many stars aligned and that’s why I hit y’all and was like, ‘Hey, something came up,’ ” he is heard telling the act. “If we do this song, it’s a love letter to our fans. I would be honored to have the group on this song.”
All charts dated Oct. 14 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Oct. 10.