Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Prince of Pop", he is known for his showmanship, tenor vocal range, versatility across the entertainment industry, and frequent collaborations with hip-hop producers such as The Neptunes and Timbaland.
As a child, Timberlake appeared on the television show Star Search and was a cast member on Disney Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club (1993—1995). He rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of NSYNC, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. His 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 became his first to debut atop the US Billboard 200 and spawned the US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles ""SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". Timberlake scored his fourth US number-one single with a feature on Timbaland's "Give It to Me", before landing roles in the films Shrek the Third (2007), The Love Guru (2008), The Social Network (2010), Bad Teacher, Friends with Benefits and In Time (all 2011).
Timberlake's next three albums―The 20/20 Experience, The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 (both 2013), and Man of the Woods (2018)―all peaked atop the Billboard 200; the first of these became the best-selling album of 2013 in the United States. In 2016, he began voicing Branch with the first film of the Trolls franchise. "Can't Stop the Feeling!", a song from the movie's soundtrack, became his fifth US number-one single and earned him an Academy Award nomination. His sixth album, Everything I Thought It Was (2024), peaked in the top five. Timberlake also continued his film career, with roles in Wonder Wheel (2017), Palmer (2021) and Reptile (2023).
Throughout his career, Timberlake has received numerous accolades, including ten Grammy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, three Brit Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards and eleven MTV Video Music Awards (including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award). He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2019, Timberlake received the Contemporary Icon Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as a member of NSYNC. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007 and Billboard ranked him among the greatest pop stars of the 21st century in 2023.
Justin Randall Timberlake was born on January 31, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Janet Lynn (née Bomar) Harless and Charles Randall Timberlake, a Baptist church choir director. 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. Performing as a child, Timberlake sang country and gospel music: at the age of 11, he appeared on the television show Star Search, performing country songs as "Justin Randall". 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.
From 1993 to 1995, he was a Mouseketeer on The All New Mickey Mouse Club, where his castmates included future girlfriend and singer Britney Spears, future tourmate Christina Aguilera, future bandmate JC Chasez, and future actors Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell. 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.
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".
2002–2004: Justified and Super Bowl XXXVIII controversy
In August 2002, Timberlake performed at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, where he premiered his debut solo single, "Like I Love You", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. His debut solo album, Justified, was released in November and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 439,000 copies, fewer than previous 'N Sync releases. It sold over three million copies in the U.S. and more than ten million copies worldwide. Its R&B influence, provided by hip-hop producers The Neptunes and Timbaland, was complimented by music critics. About the musical direction of the record, he commented, "I just want to do R&B. It's what I grew up listening to". The album spawned the top-five singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body".
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. Timberlake, who cried during the episode, later admitted to being under the influence of cannabis when he was pranked. 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 a 2003 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Timberlake co-starred in a skit titled The Barry Gibb Talk Show alongside comedian Jimmy Fallon, where the duo portrayed Bee Gees brothers Barry and Robin Gibb. It marked the beginning of a long-running friendship and collaboration with Fallon.