Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake (born
January 31,
1981) is a two-time
Grammy Award-winning
American pop singer and aspiring
actor. He came to fame as the
frontman of pop
boy band 'N Sync. In 2002, he released his debut solo album,
Justified, which went on to sell over seven million copies worldwide. Timberlake has gained the nickname "Prince of Pop". Timberlake's second solo release,
FutureSex/LoveSounds, will be released in September of 2006.
Early life
Timberlake was born in
Memphis,
Tennessee to Randall Timberlake and Lynn Bomar; his paternal grandfather, Charles L. Timberlake, was a
Baptist minister, but Timberlake considers himself more "spiritual than religious".
His parents are now divorced and both have re-married; his mother, who now runs an entertainment company called JustinTime Entertainment, has re-married to Paul Harless, a banker, while his father, a choir director at a Baptist church, has two children, Jonathan and Stephen, from his second marriage.
Timberlake grew up in
Millington, a small town just north of
Memphis. In 1993, He got his first taste of fame when he joined the ranks of
The Mickey Mouse Club. There he met future girlfriend and pop superstar
Britney Spears, future tourmate
Christina Aguilera and, perhaps most importantly, future bandmate
JC Chasez. When the show ended in 1995, Justin recruited JC to be in a new all-male singing group he was forming with friend
Chris Kirkpatrick. The group would come to be known as
'N Sync.
1995-2002: 'N Sync
Timberlake was a member of the popular 1990s boy band,
'N Sync, and was considered a
teen idol. The group formed in 1995, and hit it big in 1998, eventually releasing the fastest-selling album of all time ,
No Strings Attached in 2000. In 2002, after the completion of their
Celebrity Tour and release of "
Girlfriend", the third single from their 2001 album
Celebrity, the group decided to take time off, at which point Timberlake began work on his first solo album. He hoped the album would shed him of his squeaky-clean boyband image in favor of a sexier, more mature look and sound. Around this same time, in March of 2002, Timberlake split from long-time girlfriend and fellow popstar Britney Spears. The break-up heavily influenced Timberlake's writing for his upcoming album, as many songs touched on the topic, most notably the hit single "
Cry Me A River".
2002-2003: Justified era
On August 29, 2002, after months of recording the album, Timberlake gave a much-hyped performace at the 2002
MTV Video Music Awards, where he premiered his first single, "
Like I Love You", a sparse
dance track produced by
The Neptunes. The song became a hit, reaching #11 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Following the successful release of the single, Timberlake released his debut solo album,
Justified, on November 5, 2002. The album was also a success, despite selling considerably less than previous 'N Sync efforts. It debuted at #2 on the
Billboard 200 album chart, selling 439,000 copies in its first week of release. It eventually went on to sell over 3.5 million copies in the U.S. and over 7 million copies worldwide.
The album also received citical acclaim, thanks to its heavy
R&B influence provided by
hip-hop producers
The Neptunes and
Timbaland. The album spun off hits throughout late 2002 and 2003, including the top ten singles "Cry Me A River" and "
Rock Your Body". Timberlake supported the album by co-headling the
Justified/Stripped Tour with
Christina Aguilera in the summer of 2003. For many dates,
The Black Eyed Peas served as the opening act; Timberlake appeared uncredited on their smash hit "
Where Is The Love?" which was also released in the summer of 2003. His record company did not want Timberlake to be credited for fear that it would take focus away from his solo releases; still, Timberlake often appeared with The Black Eyed Peas to perform the track live, including during the 2003
MTV Europe Music Awards. By the end of the year, Timberlake recorded a song entitled "
I'm Lovin' It." It was used by
McDonald's as the theme to their "I'm Lovin' It" campaign.
Timberlake has made an effort to trade the squeaky-clean image of his teenage years for a more edgy, sexualized persona. He has added numerous tattoos, and also performed at the SARStock Festival, a concert staged in
Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada, following the 2003
SARS scare to revive the city's tourism industry.
2004: Controversy and critical success
In February 2004, during the halftime show of the
Super Bowl XXXVIII, Timberlake performed with
Janet Jackson before a television audience of over 140 million viewers. At the end of the performance, Timberlake tore off a part of Jackson's black leather costume in a "costume reveal" meant to accompany a portion of the song lyrics, "gonna have you naked by the end of this song". Part of the costume became detached, and Jackson's breast was briefly exposed. Timberlake apologized for the incident saying that he was "sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl... It was not intentional and is regrettable".
The phrase "
wardrobe malfunction" has since been used by the media to refer to the incident and has entered
pop culture.
As a result of the controversy, Timberlake and Jackson were banned from the
2004 Grammy Awards unless they agreed to apologize on screen at the event. Jackson declined. Timberlake attended and issued a scripted apology while accepting the first of two Grammy Awards he received that night (
Best Pop Vocal Album for
Justified and
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Cry Me A River"). He had also been nominated for
Album of the Year for
Justified,
Record of the Year for "Cry Me A River", and
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Where Is The Love?" with The Black Eyed Peas.
2004-2006: Collaborations and acting career
|
Photo courtesy Celebrity Fine Art Photographer Eric Shawn |
After the Super Bowl controversy, Timberlake put his recording career on hold in an attempt to jumpstart his acting career. Timberlake had had a few minor acting roles during his early music career, including a bit part as a
model in the 2000
made-for-television film Model Behavior, and a cameo in the 2001 film
On the Line, but he wanted more substantial roles. The first role he took during this time was as a journalist in the thriller
Edison Force, which was filmed in 2004 and will receive a direct-to-video release on
July 18, 2006. He will also appear in the films
Alpha Dog,
Black Snake Moan,
Richard Kelly's
Southland Tales, and voice a young
King Arthur in the animated film
Shrek the Third, which will be released in 2007.
Meanwhile, he continued to record with other artists. After "Where Is The Love?", he again collaborated with the Black Eyed Peas on the 2005 track "My Style" from their album
Monkey Business. Additionally, Timberlake was featured on
Nelly's song, "
Work It", which was remixed and included on Nelly's 2003 remix album. When recording the 2005 single "
Signs" with
Snoop Dogg, Timberlake discovered a throat condition.
Nodules were subsequently removed from his throat
in an operation that took place on
May 5,
2005. He was advised not to sing or speak loudly for at least a few months. In the summer of 2005, Timberlake started his own record company,
JayTee Records.
2006-present: FutureSex/LoveSounds era
|
FutureSex/LoveSounds, 2006 |
Timberlake had a cameo in
Nelly Furtado and Timbaland's video for her single "Promiscuous". He will release his second solo album, which will be entitled
FutureSex/LoveSounds, on
September 12,
2006;
the album is produced by Timbaland,
will.i.am,
Rick Rubin, and Timberlake himself,
and will feature guest vocals by Snoop Dogg, T.I. and
Nelly Furtado. A studio representative described the album as being "all about sexiness" and aiming for "an adult feel".
A new single, "
SexyBack", began receiving radio and Internet play on
July 7,
2006.
His next single is said to be "
My Love" which is also produced by Timbaland and features the rapper
T.I.. "A promotional tour of Europe and Japan is set for July, with an American tour launching in August.
Justin admitted to
Observer Magazine (
UK) that he does drugs, "The drugs that I do have been done in my own private time. I've never been arrested... though that's not to say I won't". "I've done way too many drugs already."
[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1818048,00.html] Timberlake later claimed that his comments were taken out of context.
Other work
Timberlake has opened several US
restaurants. He also started the William Rast clothing line with close friend, Trace Ayala. Timberlake describes the line as "A little bit of
Hollywood, a little bit of Tennessee" (Timberlake's home state). In 2004,
ABC hired Timberlake to write a song for its
NBA coverage.
In October of 2005, the Grammy Association awarded Timberlake for humanitarian efforts in Tennessee, alongside writer/director
Craig Brewer, also a Memphis native.
Near the end of 2002, Timberlake was the first celebrity to appear on
Punk'd, a "candid camera" type show created by
Ashton Kutcher to trick celebrities. Three episodes later, he set up
Kelly Osbourne to be "punk'd", thus making him the first celebrity to appear on the show more than once. Timberlake later spoofed Ashton Kutcher and
Punk'd in an episode of NBC's
Saturday Night Live.
In 2003 Timberlake released a non-album track called "I'm Lovin' It" as a single. Although the song did not chart as well as his previous singles, it was chosen by
McDonald's as their theme song. Advertising for the new campaign initially involved samples of the song, including Timberlake's voice. Eventually the company phased Timberlake out their ads but continued to use the phrase, "I'm Lovin' It" as their slogan.
Personal life
Timberlake dated fellow pop singer
Britney Spears for several years. The two appeared on the
New Mickey Mouse Club together and broke up in 2002, amid rumors of Spears'
infidelity. Timberlake has since dated singer Janet Jackson (during the summer of 2002), actress-singers
Alyssa Milano (between August and September of 2002), as well as his former 'N Sync backup dancer,
Jenna Dewan.
Timberlake is currently dating actress
Cameron Diaz. In June 2006, several tabloids reported that the couple had broken up, citing the
age difference between them and Justin's apparent desire to 'sow his wild oats' when he embarks on a world tour in the near future (dates unknown). A representative for the couple says that the two are still together.
Albums
*2002
Justified â€" #2 US, #1 UK,
**U.S. certification: 3x Platinum (worldwide sales: 7 Million)
*2006
FutureSex/LoveSounds â€" currently scheduled for a
September 12,
2006 release via
Jive RecordsSingles
Guest vocals
*
2001: "My Kind Of Girl" (with
Brian McKnight, from
Superhero)
*
2001: "What It's Like To Be Me" (with
Britney Spears, from
Britney)
*
2002: "Work It" (with
Nelly, from
Nellyville) #7 UK, #68 US #14 AUS
*
2003: "
Where Is The Love?" (with
The Black Eyed Peas, from
Elephunk) #8 US,
#1 UK, #1 Latvia,
#1 AUS
*
2004: "Good Foot" (with
Timbaland, from the
Shark Tale soundtrack)
*
2004: "Headsprung (Remix)" (with
Keri Hilson)
*
2005: "
Signs" (with
Snoop Dogg &
Charlie Wilson, from
R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece) #46 US, #2 UK, #34 Latvia, #
1AUS
*
2005: "
My Style" (with The Black Eyed Peas, from
Monkey Business)
*
2005: "Floatin'" (with Charlie Wilson &
will.i.am, from
Charlie, Last Name Wilson)
*
2006: "Loose Ends" (with
Sergio Mendes,
Pharoahe Monch & will.i.am, from
Timeless)
*
2006: "My Style (DJ Premier Remix)" (with The Black Eyed Peas, from
Renegotiations: The Remixes)
*
List of number-one dance hits (United States)*
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
*
Justin Timberlake Official Website*
Official Website
