Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Prince of Pop", he is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Billboard named him one of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. His awards include ten Grammy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, three Brit Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, the Contemporary Icon Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and MTV's Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Timberlake appeared on musical television shows as a child, competing on Star Search; in the early to mid-1990s, he was a cast member on the Disney Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club, where he performed cover songs, skits, and choreography. On the show, Timberlake met and worked with future bandmate JC Chasez, and the two later rose to prominence as the lead vocalists of the pop boy band NSYNC. The group released four commercially successful albums, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time with sales of over 70 million units worldwide.
Timberlake's first two solo albums, Justified (2002) and FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), both sold over 10 million copies and received triple platinum certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The latter also became his first to debut atop the US Billboard 200. His next three albums peaked atop the chart: The 20/20 Experience, The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 (both 2013), and Man of the Woods (2018); the first of these became the best-selling album of the year. Timberlake's high-charting singles include "Cry Me a River", "Rock Your Body", "SexyBack", "My Love", "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows", "What Goes Around... Comes Around", "Give It to Me", "4 Minutes", "Pusher Love Girl", "Suit & Tie", "Mirrors" and "Can't Stop the Feeling!", which earned him an Academy Award nomination.
Timberlake enhanced his popularity with an acting career. He landed starring roles in the films The Love Guru (2008), The Social Network (2010), Bad Teacher (2011), Friends with Benefits (2011), In Time (2011), Wonder Wheel (2017), and Palmer (2021). He has also taken part in voice acting, voicing Artie in Shrek the Third (2007), Boo-Boo Bear in Yogi Bear (2010), and Branch in the Trolls franchise since 2016. He has frequently collaborated with producers such as The Neptunes and Timbaland, who are best known for boosting Timberlake's solo career.
Early life
Justin Randall Timberlake was born on January 31, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee, Timberlake has two half-brothers, Jonathan and Stephen, from Charles' second marriage to Lisa Perry. His half-sister Laura Katherine died shortly after birth in 1997 and is mentioned in his acknowledgments in the album NSYNC as "My Angel in Heaven".
His family circle includes several musicians; his grandfather introduced him to music from country music artists like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. By that time, he began listening to rhythm and blues musicians from the 1960s and 1970s, such as Al Green, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye, and he had listening sessions with his father of albums by the Eagles and Bob Seger. In 1995, Timberlake recruited Chasez to be in an all-male singing group, put together by Chris Kirkpatrick and financed by boy band manager Lou Pearlman, that eventually became NSYNC.
Career
1995–2002: NSYNC
The boy band NSYNC formed in 1995, and they began recording and performing in 1996 in Europe; Timberlake and Chasez served as its two lead singers. In 1998, the group rose to prominence in the United States with the release of their self-titled debut album, which sold 11 million copies and includes the single "Tearin' Up My Heart". The group had a series of legal battles with former manager Lou Pearlman, and they subsequently signed with Jive Records. They released their third album, No Strings Attached (2000), which sold 2.4 million copies in the first week, becoming the fastest-selling album of all time. They held this record until 2015, when Adele surpassed the record with her third album, 25. No Strings Attached also includes the number one singles "It's Gonna Be Me", "Bye Bye Bye", and "This I Promise You". The same year, Timberlake made his film debut in The Wonderful World of Disney film Model Behavior. He played Jason Sharpe, a model who falls in love with a waitress after mistaking her for another model. He also appeared as a young Elton John in the video for John's song "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" the following year. NSYNC's fourth album, Celebrity (2001), was also financially successful, selling 1.8 million copies in the first week and spawning the top-five single "Girlfriend". Upon the completion of the Celebrity Tour, the group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2002. NSYNC performed at the Academy Awards in 2000, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. The band sold more than 70 million records worldwide, becoming the fifth-best-selling boy band in history.
The rise of Timberlake's own stardom and the general decline in the popularity of boy bands led to the dissolution of NSYNC. Band member Lance Bass was openly critical of Timberlake's actions in his memoir Out of Sync. By 2002, when the group went on an indefinite hiatus and members were pursuing individual projects, Timberlake partnered with Pharrell Williams of the producing team The Neptunes, and with Timbaland, to start working on new music. The idea of going solo was strengthened a year earlier. Timberlake originally wrote the single "Gone" around 2001 for Michael Jackson, but Jackson turned the song down, and it was instead recorded by NSYNC. Before its release, however, Jackson contacted him. Timberlake declared in a later interview that the first time he felt confident to go solo happened after that conversation. In a retrospective article in 2020, Billboard considered Celebrity "the group's swan song, setting the stage for Timberlake's equally massive solo career".