About

"It's Gonna Be May" refers to a mondegreen featured in the 2000 pop hit single "It's Gonna Be Me" performed by American boy band NSYNC. Since 2012, various image macros and animated GIFs of the band's former lead vocalist Justin Timberlake mouthing the lyric with the misheard caption have been circulating on the web, particularly during the last week of April and days leading up to May every year. The meme is also commonly teased toward the beginning of May annually by people posting the phrase "So About Tomorrow" alongside images of Timberlake.

Origin

"It's Gonna Be Me" was released on June 13th, 2000 as the second single from 'NSync's sophomore album No Strings Attached. The music video was first uploaded to the official NSYNCVEVO YouTube Channel^[1] on October 24th, 2009. As of April 2014, the video has gained over 20.3 million views.

On January 29th, 2012, Tumblr user amyricha^[5] posted a picture of 'N Sync band member Justin Timberlake with the caption "It's gonna be May," which pokes fun at the fact when Timberlake sings "Me," in the song it sounds like "May."

Spread

On March 15th, 2012, the Nairobi-blue Tumblr^[10] blog posted a photograph of a calendar turned to April with a picture Timberlake captioned "It's gonna be May" taped over the final day. The following day, BuzzFeed^[3] reposted the image.

On April 29th, 2012, YouTuber Aaron Ochoco^[2] uploaded a video that featured a clip from "It's Gonna Be Me," of Timberlake singing the title. The video was titled "It's Gonna Be May."

On April 26th, 2013, YouTubers PassionateFriendTime^[5] uploaded a video titled "It's Gonna Be May," which parodies the 'N Sync song and focuses on the coming month of May. As of April 2014, the video has gained over 14,000 views.

As a more subtle way of referencing the meme, many people post the phrase "So About Tomorrow" alongside images of Justin Timberlake near the beginning of May. For example, on April 30th, 2023, TikToker @chandrajordan4 shared a version with an image macro of Timberlake, receiving over 160 likes in one year (seen below).

It's Gonna Be Maytag

On April 30th, 2019, the Maytag brand of kitchen appliances posted a commercial for the advertising campaign and hashtag #itsgonnabemaytag. In the commercial, the lyrics to the *NSYNC song "It's Gonna Be Me" are edited to "It's Gonna Be Maytag." Within 24 hours, the video received more than 35,000 views (re-upload shown below).

Following the release of the commercial, people began tweeting their appreciation for the parody and using the hashtag. That day, *NSYNC member Lance Bass tweeted^[7] an image of the Maytag Man replacing Justin Timberlake in the "It's Gonna Be May" meme. The post received more than 130 retweets and 650 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Throughout the day, others posted their enjoyment of the commercial (examples below, center and right).

Several media outlets reported on the commercial, including The Daily Dot. ^[8]

May 2020 Title Change

On April 30th, 2020, NSYNC changed the title of "It's Gonna Be Me" to "It's Gonna Be Me – It's Gonna Be May" on Apple Music and Spotify.^[9]

Various Examples

Related Memes

April 25th

In the 2000 comedy film Miss Congeniality, a contestant is asked what her perfect date would be, and she replies "April 25th." GIF sets featuring this exchange are often reblogged on Tumblr on this date every year.

May 4th

“May the Force Be With You” is a quote from the 1977 science fiction film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Within the world of Star Wars, as well as among fans of the franchise, it is used as an expression of good luck. The Fourth of May was chosen as the Star Wars day by the fans as a clever wordplay on this expression.

October 3rd

In the 2004 teen comedy film Mean Girls the protagonist Cady (Lindsay Lohan) is asked what day it is, and she replies, "It's October 3rd." GIF sets featuring this exchange are often reblogged on Tumblr on this date every year.

Hollywood Walk of Fame

On April 30th, 2018, Nsync reunited to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, during which band member JC Chasez sang "it's gonna be May" into a microphone.^[6]

Search Interest

External References