Justin Timberlake

 

Justin Timberlake   

Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is a two-time Grammy Award-winning American singer and aspiring actor. He came to fame as the front man of the pop band ‘N Sync. In 2002 he released his debut solo album, Justified, which went on to sell over seven million copies worldwide and earned him the nickname “The King of Pop”. Timberlake’s 2nd studio album is due for release in the fall 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’s career began after a childhood stint on the American television talent show Star Search, and picked up speed when he became a cast member of The New Mickey Mouse Club. His co-stars on this teenage variety show included future ‘N Sync bandmate JC Chasez, fellow pop singers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and actors Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell.

Music career
Main article: ‘N Sync
Timberlake was a member of the popular 1990s boy band, ‘N Sync, and was considered a teen idol and the sex symbol of the group (akin to Nick Carter’s status in the competing boy band The Backstreet Boys). The group formed in 1996 and went on hiatus in 2002. At that point, Timberlake decided to launch a solo career.

Timberlake performed his debut single Like I Love You at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, gaining a large number of ardent fans. In November of that year, he released his debut solo album, Justified, which received critical acclaim and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, selling 439,000 copies in its first week of release, and eventually selling over 3.5 million copies in the US alone, and over 7 million copies worldwide. The album had a heavy R&B influence, and was produced by hip-hop stalwarts The Neptunes and Timbaland. Timberlake supported the album by touring with Christina Aguilera on her Stripped tour, which ran throughout 2003.

Timberlake has made a concerted 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 SARSTOCK, a concert staged in Toronto following the 2003 SARS scare to revive the city’s tourism industry. At this concert Timberlake was Booed throughout his set and had many water bottles thrown at him. He was the act right after AC/DC, which is a tough act to follow.

Between 2003 and 2005, Timberlake collaborated with several artists on songs. He is featured in the track My Style on the Black Eyed Peas album Monkey Business. He also appeared in the group’s hit single Where Is The Love?, from their previous album, Elephunk. Because his own album had just been released at the time, Timberlake’s record company requested that his contribution to Where Is The Love? be officially unacknowledged on the track. However, Timberlake often appeared with the Black Eyed Peas to perform the track live, including during the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards. Additionally, Timberlake was featured on a version of rapper Nelly’s song, Work It. When recording the 2004 single Signs with Snoop Dogg, Timberlake discovered a throat condition. Nodules were subsequently removed from his throat in an operation that took place on 5 May 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; he signed underground hip-hop artist, Joshua B, as the label’s first act. Timberlake will release his second solo album, Futuresexlovesound in the Fall of 2006 which will be co-produced by Timbaland, Will.i.am and Rick Rubin and feature guest vocals by Snoop Dogg and Nelly Furtado, with a new single slated for summer of the same year.

Controversy
Main article: Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy
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 his song lyrics, “better have you naked by the end of this song”. More of the costume became detached than intended, and Jackson’s right breast and nipple were briefly exposed. Timberlake apologized for the incident by 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 both banned from the 2004 Grammy Awards unless they agreed to apologize on screen at the event. Jackson declined to apologize. Timberlake, who was scheduled to perform, attended and issued a scripted apology while accepting his first of two Grammy Awards (a Best Pop Vocal Album for Justified and a Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Cry Me a River).

Acting career
Timberlake has had a few minor acting roles during his music career, including a bit part as a model in the 2000 made-for-television film, Model Behavior, and a cameo in the film On the Line. More recently, he has branched out into a full film career, playing a journalist in the thriller, Edison, which was filmed in 2004 and is currently scheduled for a 2006 release. 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 3, which will be released in 2007.

Other work
Timberlake has opened several U.S. restaurants. He also began the William Rast clothing line with close friend Trace Ayala. Timberlake describes the line as being “A little bit of Hollywood, a little bit of Tennessee”. In 2004, ABC hired Timberlake to write a song for its NBA coverage.

In October of 2005, the Grammy Association awarded Timberlake for his humanitarian efforts in his home state of Tennessee, alongside writer/director Craig Brewer, also a Memphis native.

Timberlake has also appeared on Saturday Night Live where he spoofed Ashton Kutcher and Punk’d by tricking rapper 50 Cent played by Finesse Mitchell. But before hand, Timberlake became the first celebrity to get Punk’d by Ashton Kutcher at the end of 2002 (the prank first aired in early 2003). His biological mother, Lynn, also set him up with this prank.

Personal life
Timberlake dated fellow pop singer Britney Spears for several years. The two were on the New Mickey Mouse Club together and broke up in 2002, amid rumors of Spears’ infidelity. Timberlake has since dated Janet Jackson (during the summer of 2002), actresses Alyssa Milano (between August and September of 2002) and Tatyana Ali, as well as dancer Jenna Dewan.

 

 

Timberlake is currently dating actress Cameron Diaz.