EXCLUSIVE! Lance Bass Reveals How He Puts Fame into Perspective, Thanks to His Veteran Grandfathers’ Sacrifices
The last time Lance Bass traced his genealogy, he learned that he and fellow pop superstar Britney Spears are distant cousins. This time, he found records about two heroic men near and dear to his heart. “I get to preserve history,” he says. “I’m so happy about it!”
Indeed, though the former ’NSync-er and reality-show alum has always been proud of his grandfathers’ rich history in the military—James “Jimmy” Bass Sr., now 97, served in World War II; Elza “Shorty” Pulliam, who died in 2020, served in World War II and the Korean War—he was ecstatic to locate both of their long-lost enlistment cards, courtesy of the genealogy site Ancestry. “My family has heard the stories, but we didn’t have a lot of photos of them from that age,” he says. “So to see these cards with their actual signatures on [them] was really just beautiful. It definitely brought my family closer together.”
With Veterans Day approaching on Nov. 11, Bass says he’s extra appreciative of his grandfathers’ grit. Bass Sr. (“Grandaddy”) enlisted in the Navy and served on the USS Harding, where he fed ammunition to a gun shooter. He also re-registered for the war in 1946, two years after he was initially discharged. Pulliam (“Papa”), who enlisted in 1945, was a stoic Marine. “My papa never wanted to talk about it with his family,” he says. “I could tell his experience really affected him.”
Bass, who is married to Michael Turchin and is the father of 4-year-old fraternal twins Violet and Alexander, talked to Reader’s Digest from his home in Palm Springs, California, about his family’s past and present. Read on to find out how he keeps his family’s history front and center for his kids and how his grandfathers’ bravery puts everything into perspective for him.
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Reader’s Digest: How will your grandfather commemorate Veterans Day this year? Love that he’s still going strong at 97!
Lance Bass: My granddaddy created the Veterans Memorial Museum in Laurel, Mississippi, and I’ve been able to go a few times with my kids. He loves going there because he’s still the best storyteller in the world. Everyone fawns all over him. He won’t admit it, but I know he loves the attention. I know that love really fuels him.
Reader’s Digest: Do your kids understand their familial history?
Lance Bass: Yes! We FaceTime him a lot because I just want them to have those moments with him. You know, these are their first memories right now, and hopefully their first memories are going to be of their great-grandfather. I remember my first memory was of my great-grandfather. So I’m always trying to remind them of who he is because I definitely want them to have that firsthand experience with him.
Reader’s Digest: What personality traits did you inherit from your grandfathers?
Lance Bass: I think I get my cheekiness from my papa. He was always pushing buttons and just trying to be funny. I definitely am that person. Then, for my granddaddy, he’s the legend of the town. And he’s always so positive—I think I bring my positivity from my granddaddy. And I think both of them made me super brave. I’ve been able to stand up for myself and put on a brave face for many, many, many things. I think that’s something they really instilled in me: Be a good person, and be brave.
Reader’s Digest: What did they make of your boy-band popularity back in the day?
Lance Bass: It was such an incredible experience with my whole family, especially my grandparents. They ate it up. When they were able to experience the whole ’NSync run, it was just so fun. And I think it made them younger—like, it was really fun for them to experience watching TRL on MTV every day. My grandmother had the biggest crush on [host] Carson Daly, and she would watch every day to see if her grandson was No. 1 on TRL! And for me, having them go to the concerts and seeing them in the front row put such a huge smile on my face.
Reader’s Digest: Your mega-bestselling album No Strings Attached turned 25 years old this year. Did it go by in a blink?
Lance Bass: Living in the moment, it didn’t seem so quick. But looking back, it’s like, whoa, that just flew by. It’s just crazy to look back and see all the things that we did. It actually relates to Ancestry.com in that they’re preserving these stories, especially through video. It’s going to be so important one day.
Even now, when I talk to the ’NSync boys, they’ll be like, “Oh, did you remember this one performance in New York City?” And I’m like, “No, I thought that happened in California.”
It’s so funny how your mind changes stories. It takes other people validating everything for the truth to really come out.
Reader’s Digest: What’s your most treasured piece of memorabilia that you kept from that era?
Lance Bass: So there’s a psychic named Uri Geller. When we were starting off in 1998, we went to England to promote our first release. He rushes into our dressing room and tells us that the universe wanted him to come into the room. And he takes a spoon that JC [Chasez] was holding and bends the spoon in front of us. Then he says, “You’re all going to be really, really big one day. But I suggest that on the cover of your first album, you put something celestial on there, so that the universe knows that you gave a little shoutout to it, and it’ll help you become super famous.”
We didn’t want to tell him that we already released our first album in Germany. And we didn’t think about this until the album, which was called ’NSync, came out in America. We looked at it, and the apostrophe in the name ’NSync was turned into a star. No one knows who did that—it just happened. So we were like, “Oh, my gosh!” And the album sold 10 million copies. So I held on to that spoon.
Reader’s Digest: That is an unbelievable story. Where is that spoon now?
Lance Bass: It’s in my sock drawer. I keep telling myself that I’m going to frame it, but I don’t even have my wedding photos framed. Everything stays in a drawer.
Reader’s Digest: Do you display any memorabilia that belonged to your grandfathers?
Lance Bass: My granddaddy has a ton of memorabilia, but we’re keeping everything in the museum because we want to preserve his legacy. But I get him stuff all the time that’s dedicated to him. I even got President Biden to write him a letter. He has it framed in the museum. It’s fun to use my connections to honor him.
Reader’s Digest: How does knowing about your roots keep you grounded?
Lance Bass: It definitely keeps me humble to know what my grandparents went through. My grandfathers’ families sent them off to these wars knowing they would most likely not be coming home. And then they put their lives on the line for us. I don’t think any of us are ever going to know what that feels like. I hope I don’t have to, and I hope my kids don’t have to.
Rapid response with Lance Bass
Reader’s Digest: Quick question time! Morning or night?
Lance Bass: I’m a night person. My kids are too. We’ve actually found that in our DNA too.
Reader’s Digest: Favorite breakfast food?
Lance Bass: French toast.
Reader’s Digest: Dogs or cats?
Lance Bass: I’m a dog person; my kids are cat people. My son has identified as a cat since he was a baby. We used to call him “Meow.” But my husband is deathly allergic!
Reader’s Digest: Window or aisle?
Lance Bass: In my younger years, I would always do a window because I could actually put my head against it to rest. But now in my older years, I need to use the bathroom, so I’m aisle.
Reader’s Digest: What advice would you give to your younger self?
Lance Bass: Don’t care what people think of you. Live life for yourself and not for anyone else.
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