Happy Birthday to NSYNC Singer, Author Lance Bass

James Lance Bass was born today, May 4, in 1979. He is a singer, dancer, actor, film and television producer, and author. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band NSYNC. NSYNC's success led Bass to work in film and television. He starred in the 2001 film On the Line, which his company, Bacon & Eggs, also produced. Bass later formed a second production company, Lance Bass Productions, as well as a now-defunct music management company, Free Lance Entertainment, a joint venture with Mercury Records.

After completion of NSYNC's PopOdyssey Tour, Bass moved to Star City, Russia, in much publicized pursuit of a seat on a Soyuz space capsule. Bass was certified by both NASA and the Russian Space Program after several months of cosmonaut training, and planned to join the TMA-1mission to the International Space Station. However, after his financial sponsors backed out, Bass was denied a seat on the mission.

Bass came out as gay in a cover story for People magazine on July 26, 2006. There had been considerable media speculation about his orientation due to numerous paparazzi snapshots of him at gay bars and nightclubs, most notably during the preceding Independence Day weekend in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton had also been posting items on his website about Bass's orientation since September 2005, and New York gossip column Page Six ran a blurb on July 12, 2006, that reported a sighting of Bass at a gay bar with his then-boyfriend, Reichen Lehmkuhl. In his coming out interview, Bass stated:

“The thing is, I'm not ashamed – that's the one thing I want to say. I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy.”

Bass began dating painter and actor Michael Turchin in January 2011 and they became engaged in September 2013. They married on December 20, 2014.

Following public response surrounding his coming out, Bass announced that he was releasing an autobiography. The book, entitled Out of Sync, was published on October 23, 2007. It was co-written by The New York Times best-selling biographer Marc Eliot, who also wrote the book's introduction. The 208-page book covers what Bass describes as "the first chapter" in his life, from his childhood growing up in rural Mississippi, to his efforts to obtain a seat on a Russian space capsule and the proceeding financial issues he had with his sponsors, and culminating with Bass's decision to go public with his sexuality. The book includes details about boyfriends that he kept from family and friends, and recounts NSYNC's 2002 decision to go on an "extended hiatus."  Out of Sync debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list for the week of November 11, 2007.

Bass and Husband Michael Turchin (Getty Images)

Bass has been involved with a number of charities during his career. In 2001, Bass founded The Lance Bass Foundation, a non-profit organization that was designed to meet the health needs of low-income children. In 2003, Bass donated $30,000 US to establish the Amber Pulliam Special Education Endowment at The University of Southern Mississippi. The endowment is in honor of his younger cousin, Amber Pulliam, who has Down syndrome, and was established to financially aid students from Mississippi's Pine Belt who plan a career in special education.

After 2005's Hurricane Katrina, Bass launched "uBid For Hurricane Relief," a celebrity auction to benefit victims of the hurricane, with uBid.com. Proceeds from the auction were split between the Child Welfare League of America, The Brett Favre Fourward Mississippi Foundation, and Ashton Kutcher's RockWorks Foundation. Many of Bass's family members in Mississippi were directly affected by the hurricane. That same year, Bass appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition with a donation to a Russian woman to save a camp for disabled children in Russia.

Bass is a member of the Environmental Media Association's board of directors. He has also been involved with Animal Avengers, Shannon Elizabeth's animal rescue organization. He has two dogs which he adopted from a rescue shelter, both of whom he posed with in a PETA ad urging people to adopt rather than buy animals. In August 2007, Bass wrote a guest commentary for LOGO's "Visible Vote '08" blog, in which he expressed support for gay marriage. In September 2007, Bass participated in a series of GLAAD television advertisements promoting tolerance for the LGBT community. Bass has also been involved in fundraising for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.