JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

Justin Timberlake

Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and the recipient of two Emmys and six Grammys. He became well-known early on by competing in Star Search. He later appeared in The New Mickey Mouse Club on the Disney Channel, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez.

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Justin Timberlake rose to prominence in the late 1990s as the main vocalist of the boy band ‘N Sync, which was funded by Lou Pearlman. In 2002, he launched his inaugural solo album, Justified, which had sales exceeding 7 million copies globally. The album had financial success, producing the hits Cry Me a River and Rock Your Body.

Justin Timberlake’s initial two albums established him as one of the most commercially successful artists globally, with each exceeding 7 million copies sold. In addition to music, he has commenced an acting career, and his other enterprises encompass the record label Tennman Records, the fashion company William Rast, and the eateries Destino and Southern Hospitality.

Justin Timberlake Young

Lynn Harless (née Bomar) and Randall Timberlake were the parents of Timberlake, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Justin Timberlake has stated unproven American Indian ancestry in addition to his English heritage. Timberlake was brought up in a Baptist household by his grandfather, Charles L., who was a minister in the Baptist denomination; nevertheless, he now views himself as more spiritual than religious.

Justin Timberlake’s parents split in 1985 and have both subsequently remarried. When he was five years old, his mother remarried to Paul Harless, a banker, and she now operates an entertainment firm called “Just-in-Time Entertainment.” From his second marriage to Lisa Perry, his father, a choir director at a Baptist church, has two children: Jonathan, who was born about 1993, and Steven Robert, who was born on August 14, 1998.

Laura Katherine, Timberlake’s half-sister, passed away not long after being born on May 14, 1997. In the album’s acknowledgments, *NSYNC, he refers to her as “My Angel in Heaven”.

Career Beginnings

Shelby Forest, a middle-class, crime-free suburb between Millington and Memphis, was Timberlake’s childhood home. His initial path in a singing career involved country music performances on Star Search under the name “Justin Randall.” Timberlake became a member of the cast of “The Mickey Mouse Club” in 1993. His co-stars were future girlfriend and pop icon Britney Spears, future tour companion Christina Aguilera, and future band member JC Chasez.

Justin Timberlake’s Professional Career

*NSYNC

After The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1995, Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez were asked to join a boy band by Chris Kirkpatrick, another musician. Lance Bass and Joey Fatone completed the five-person group. *NSYNC’s I Want You Back catapulted them to stardom in Europe in the wake of their 1997 RCA record agreement. Timberlake’s destiny as a teenage idol was determined.

Among American pop groups of the ’90s, *NSYNC quickly rose to the top. Another early hit, Tearin’ Up My Heart, was included on the March 1998 U.S. release of their self-titled debut album.

The band’s second studio album, No Strings Attached, came out in 2000 after they had a highly publicized legal dispute with Lou Pearlman, their previous manager. The album, which was nominated for a Grammy, ended up selling more copies than any other album that year and even the entire decade. Bye Bye Bye, the album’s lead track, became synonymous with *NSYNC and was nominated for two Grammys.

This I Promise You and It’s Gonna Be Me, the group’s sole Billboard 100 No. 1 single, helped cement their status as one of the most beloved boy bands of all time.

Then came Celebrity, the band’s third and last studio album. Pop, Gone, and Girlfriend were the other three big singles from the 2001 album, which also garnered two further Grammy nominations. Their subsequent PopOdyssey tour grossed $90 million, making it one of the most lucrative tours of all time.

Despite *NSYNC’s immense popularity, the group went on an extended break in 2002 as Timberlake chose to focus on his solo career. The group, on the other hand, has not been reduced to oblivion. At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2013, NSYNC gave a performance, and in 2018, they were bestowed with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

As if that weren’t enough, Timberlake and his ex-bandmates shocked audiences in September 2023 by reuniting at the VMAs to present Taylor Swift with the Best Pop Award, fueling rumors that they would work together again.

The group’s performance of the song “Better Place” for the 2023 animated film Trolls Band Together confirmed those assumptions. It was their first joint project in twenty years. A possible reunion of *NSYNC was hinted at by Bass in an interview from November 2023.

Solo Work: Music, EPs, and Appearances at the Super Bowl

With the release of Like I Love You, Timberlake launched his solo career in 2002. His debut solo effort, Justified, came out later that year and includes the singles Cry Me a River and Rock Your Body. More than seven million copies were sold globally, and Timberlake received his first two Grammys that year for the album. Award winners included Justified for Best Pop Vocal Album and Cry Me a River for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

The victories followed Timberlake’s contentious Super Bowl 2004 performance with Janet Jackson, in which the singer’s bra was partially exposed after he inadvertently tore it off. A New York Times documentary was produced in 2021 based on the historic wardrobe malfunction, which is still considered one of the most notorious moments in 21st-century pop culture.

Despite the backlash, Timberlake continues to enjoy high demand as a pop and R&B singer. He worked with Timbaland and the Black Eyed Peas often; their song Where Is The Love? was nominated for a Grammy. Snoop Dogg, Nelly Furtado, and Nelly themselves were among his collaborators.

Justin Timberlake’s second studio album came out in 2006, a full year after he launched JayTee Records. FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006) was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. For many weeks in a row, SexyBack, the album’s lead hit, topped the Billboard Hot 100. My Love, What Goes Around Comes Around, and LoveStoned/I Think She Knows were among the other popular songs on the album. With each song, Timberlake added four more Grammys to his collection.

Justin Timberlake contributed to the 2008 Top 10 success of Madonna’s 4 Minutes single. In addition to contributing harmony vocals, he also wrote the song with the other artists. On Madonna’s Hard Candy album, Timberlake also had a hand on a number of other songs.

Even his subsequent chart-topping single was a group effort. The track Suit & Tie, which featured Jay-Z, marked Timberlake’s comeback to the music industry in January 2013. At the 2013 Grammys, the two of them sang the song, and Timberlake also sang a new single called Pusher Love Girl. Both secured the pop star more Grammy awards prior to the release of his highly anticipated third album, The 20/20 Experience, in March. The song, similar to FutureSex/LoveSounds, spent its first week atop the Billboard 200.

By August 2013, Justin Timberlake was riding high on his achievements, having won the VMA Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards. In October of that year, Timberlake dropped The 20/20 Experience Part 2 of 2—a companion album to his debut. Not as well received as the first album, this one nevertheless managed a No. 1 start and yielded hit singles including Take Back the Night and TKO.

Justin Timberlake dropped the lead single Can’t Stop the Feeling in the spring of 2016 off the soundtrack of the Trolls film. The song immediately became the number-one hit in sixteen different nations and on the Billboard Hot 100. Timberlake received an Oscar Award nomination and won his tenth Grammy for Best Song Written For Visual Media for this song.

The first song from Timberlake’s forthcoming studio album, Filthy, a languid bedroom jam, was released in January 2018. Later same month, he released Say Something, a Top 10 smash that featured Chris Stapleton. Just before Timberlake’s performance at the Super Bowl LII halftime show in early February, the album named Man of the Woods was published. The album was uneven and featured collaborations with Timbaland and Pharrell Williams.

Among Jackson’s admirers who believed she bore the majority of the consequences from the 2004 Super Bowl performance, the hashtag #JusticeForJanet circulated on social media before to Timberlake’s performance, igniting controversy surrounding the Super Bowl gig. Even more controversy ensued when whispers spread that Timberlake was planning to use a hologram of Prince during his performance. This was because fans cited an interview in which the late music legend had voiced his opposition to such a special effect.

Following an extended hiatus, Timberland made a brief return in 2020 to release new music from a second Trolls film. The single, The Other Side, a duet with SZA, was the more popular of the two.

Subsequent Album and a Tour in 2024

Selfish was published by Timberlake in late January 2024, along with the announcement of a new album titled Everything I Thought It Was. The project, which was his first album in six years, came out on March 15, 2024. The artist revealed during an interview on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show that he and his bandmates had around 100 song ideas before settling on the 18 songs that would make up Everything I Thought It Was.

Late in April, he kicked up his accompanying tour in Vancouver, Canada, called The Forget Tomorrow World Tour. Timberlake has announced over 70 concerts in Europe, the UK, and North America. Midway through his tour in June, Timberlake was arrested on Long Island, New York, after a traffic check, making headlines around the country. After his arraignment, he was freed from detention on charges of driving while intoxicated.

Movies

Timberlake has shown his acting chops in addition to his fame as a musician. Although his early performances in Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan failed to make an impression in 2006, he began to gain popularity that year as a Saturday Night Live presenter and musical guest. A beloved host by viewers, he won two Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2009 and 2011 for his hilarious routines and spot-on comedic timing. (He has also won two Emmys for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for his appearances on Saturday Night Live.)

In the 2007 animated blockbuster Shrek the Third, starring Mike Myers as the titular character, Timberlake made his big screen debut lending his voice to a youthful King Arthur. After that, in 2008’s comedic The Love Guru, Timberlake collaborated with Myers again.

The 2009 drama The Open Road also featured the certified triple threat, this time alongside Jeff Bridges and Mary Steenburgen. In the Oscar-winning film The Social Network (2010), which chronicles the founding of Facebook, Timberlake gave a performance that stands out. While Jesse Eisenberg starred as Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, Timberlake portrayed Sean Parker, a real-life internet tycoon.

The 2011 filmography of Justin Timberlake includes the comedic Bad Teacher co-starring Cameron Diaz, the romantic comedy Friends with Benefits co-starring Mila Kunis, and the science fiction thriller In Time co-starring Amanda Seyfried. His subsequent film credits include the 2012 baseball drama Trouble with the Curve, directed by Clint Eastwood, and the 2013 thriller Runner Runner, co-starring Ben Affleck.

In Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Timberlake played Neil Bogart, continuing his trend of increasingly serious parts. After that, in 2016, he did voice acting for the animated film Trolls as the character Branch. In addition to Trolls World Tour (2020) and Trolls Band Together (2023), he was the film’s executive music producer. All three films in the franchise include Timberlake’s original songs. Additionally, Timberlake was in the 2021 Apple original film Palmer as the lead actor, and he was in the 2022 Netflix original film Reptile as an extra.

Justin Timberlake’s Private Life

Timberlake started dating pop artist Britney Spears, with whom he had collaborated on the New Mickey Mouse Club, in early 1999. Their relationship would later become public knowledge. This came to a sudden end in March 2002, when tabloids were speculating about Spears’ infidelity with Wade Robson, a choreographer who was friends with both Spears and Timberlake. Even while she still talks highly of Spears, Lynn Harless claimed that the breakup crushed her as a mother.

One of the most successful songs from Justified, Cry Me a River by Timberlake, was impacted by the breakup in both lyrics and concept. Since his breakup with Spears, Timberlake has remained tight-lipped about his private life, leading tabloids and celebrity magazines to speculate about his romantic connections. Prior to 2001, he was in a relationship with singer-actress Stacy Ferguson. He was rumored to be romantically involved with Jenna Dewan (dancer and actress) in the middle of 2002 and Alyssa Milano (singer and actress) in September and October of the same year.

After meeting at the 2003 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in April, Timberlake began dating actress Cameron Diaz shortly after. The tabloid press regularly covered rumors of breakups, which were either disregarded or refuted on occasion. Timberlake was introduced by Diaz as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on December 16, 2006, and the couple officially split up soon after.

In response to tabloid claims that Timberlake was having an affair with Scarlett Johansson, the actress he had worked with on the music video for What Goes Around…/…Comes Around Interlude, Diaz, and Timberlake released a joint statement on January 11, 2007.

Photos of Timberlake and Jessica Biel skiing in Park City, Utah, during the Sundance Film Festival, later in January 2007, led to rumors that the two were dating. Photos of Timberlake and Biel’s romantic dates surfaced on the internet on May 12, 2007.

Teen People and Cosmopolitan both named Timberlake their Sexiest Man. Timberlake was crowned GQ’s “Most Stylish Man in America” on February 17, 2009. Manchester United, an English football club, is another team that Timberlake supports.