Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer.
[1] Born and raised in
Tennessee, he appeared on the television shows
Star Search and
The All-New Mickey Mouse Club as a child. In the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as one of the two
lead vocalists and youngest member of
NSYNC, which eventually became one of the best-selling
boy bands of all time. Timberlake began to adopt a more mature image as an artist with the release of his debut solo album, the
R&B-focused
Justified (2002), which yielded the successful singles "
Cry Me a River" and "
Rock Your Body", and earned his first two
Grammy Awards.
His critically acclaimed second album
FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), characterized by its diversity in music genres, debuted atop the U.S.
Billboard 200 and produced the
Hot 100 number-one singles "
SexyBack", "
My Love", and "
What Goes Around... Comes Around". Established as a solo artist worldwide, his first two albums both exceeded sales of 10 million copies, and he continued producing records and collaborating with other artists. From 2008 through 2012, Timberlake focused on his acting career, effectively putting his music career on hiatus; he held starring roles in the films
The Social Network,
Bad Teacher,
Friends with Benefits, and
In Time.
Timberlake resumed his music career in 2013 with his third and fourth albums
The 20/20 Experience and
The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, exploring
neo soul styles, partly inspired by the expansive
song structures of 1960s and 1970s rock. The former became the
best-selling album of the year in the US with the largest sales week, and spawned the top-three singles "
Suit & Tie" and "
Mirrors", while the latter produced the top-ten song "
Not a Bad Thing". For
his live performances, including the
eponymous concert tour for the albums, he began performing with his band The Tennessee Kids, composed by instrumentalists and dancers. Timberlake voiced the lead character in
DreamWorks Animation's
Trolls (2016), whose
soundtrack includes his fifth
Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single, "
Can't Stop the Feeling!". His fifth studio album
Man of the Woods (2018) became his fourth number-one album in the US. The album was supported by the two top ten singles, "
Filthy" and "
Say Something".
Man of the Woods concluded 2018 as the sixth best-selling album of the year.
[2]
Throughout his solo career, Timberlake has sold over 32 million albums and 56 million singles globally, making him one of the
world's best-selling music artists. Often cited as a
pop icon, Timberlake is the recipient of
numerous awards and accolades, including ten
Grammy Awards, four
Emmy Awards, three
Brit Awards, and nine
Billboard Music Awards. According to
Billboard in 2017, he is the best performing male soloist in the history of the
Mainstream Top 40.
Time named him one of the
100 most influential people in the world in 2007 and 2013. His other ventures include record label
Tennman Records, fashion label
William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality.
Then he married a witch and now every day is a living nightmare.