A member of "The New Mickey Mouse Club" and the boy band *NSYNC, Justin Timberlake has also made a name for himself as a successful recording artist, dancer, and actor.
Justin Timberlake Biography
One of the members of “The New Mickey Mouse Club” and the boy band *NSYNC, Justin Timberlake has also made a name for himself as a successful recording artist, dancer, and actor.
Early Life
Justin Randall Timberlake came to being on January 31, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee and was inspired from an early age by soul, blues, and R&B. In his early teens, he joined the cast of “The Mickey Mouse Club” with soon to be pop stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
*NSYNC Breakthrough
Justin originally formed NSYNC with his “Mickey Mouse Club” colleague JC Chasez as the lead singers in 1995. Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, and Chris Kirkpatrick then joined and released their first self-entitled album in 1998. The group would become one of the most successful bands of the 90s with iconic hits like “Tearin’ Up My Heart”, “Bye Bye Bye” and “It’s Gonna Be Me”. In total, the group sold more than 50 million copies all over the world and became the third-best selling boy group in history.
Solo Career and The Super Bowl
Justin was becoming a star in his own right since the band’s beginning. Thus, after the disbandment of the group, it was no surprise that he would carry on that success as a solo artist. The debut R&B album “Justified” was released in 2002 while “Cry Me a River” and “Rock Your Body” were the hit singles in 2003. The true jaw-dropper moment came during the 2004 “Super Bowl XXXVIII” of his performance with Janet Jackson, where, accidently Justin revealed Janet’s breast on live television before 140 million people viewing at home. They were both heavily criticized for the mishap. Nonetheless, Justin won 2 Grammys after the event, 1 for “Best Pop Vocal Album” and 1 for “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance”.
Combining Acting and Music
After the “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl, Justin decided to focus on an acting career in movies like: “Alpha Dog”, “Black Snake Moan” and “Shrek”. In 2006 he released his second album “FutureSex/LoveSounds” which debuted at number 1 on Billboard 200. The first 3 singles “Sexy Back”, “My Love” and “What Goes Around…Comes Around” were number 1 hits. Timberlake became a favorite at the skit comedy show “Saturday Night Live” after the success of the track “Dick in a Box” accompanied by comedian Andy Samberg. He won 2 more Grammys for his latest album in 2008. In acting, Justin joined the cast of the critically acclaimed movie “The Social Network” as Sean Parker, his first major role. During this time he starts an on-going collaboration with friend Jimmy Fallon after his appearance and performance of “History of Rap” on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”.
Comeback to Music
Following a music hiatus, he revealed the album “The 20/20 Experience” under RCA Records. It became the fastest selling album on iTunes and best-selling album of 2013 in North America. Justin received the lifetime achievement “Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award” at the “2013 MTV Video Music Awards”. A continuation of the last album was released on its own as “The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2” debuting at number 1. In addition, Timberlake won 3 Grammys in 2015. In 2016 he joined the cast of the animated movie “Trolls” voicing the lead character as well contributing as executive music producer of the film’s soundtrack “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”. The song was an international hit, debuting at number 1 on the US Billboard and other 16 countries.
Photo credit: MB MUSIC
