It’s Gonna Be May: Justin Timberlake shares coronavirus edit of annual NSYNC meme

Meme is inspired by Timberlake’s strange pronunciation of the word ‘me’ in a 2000 NSYNC single

Justin Timberlake has shared a coronavirus edit of a popular meme that resurfaces every 1 May.

The “It’s Gonna Be May” meme repurposes a screenshot from the video for “It’s Gonna Be Me”, a 2000 single by Timberlake’s former band NSYNC.

In the track itself, Timberlake’s sticky vocals on the title line makes the word “me” sound uncannily like “May”.

To celebrate the meme, which goes viral annually, Timberlake posted an edit in which a coronavirus face mask has been superimposed over his mouth.

“Spring Summer 2020,” Timberlake captioned the image. “Thanks for this, Internet.”

In 2016, Timberlake blamed producer Max Martin for his pronunciation of the word “me” on the track.

“I will say, in my defence, Max Martin made me sing ‘me’ that way,” he told Capital FM. “I think he just wanted me to sound like I was from Tennessee.

“I just want to throw Max Martin on the chopping block for that one. But thank you Max, because we now have the meme of the century.”

Timberlake recently voiced a character and curated the soundtrack for the animated sequel Trolls World Tour.