Justin Timberlake

Justin Randall Timberlake, born on January 31, 1981, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is often referred to as the “Prince of Pop” and is considered one of the most influential entertainers of his generation.

Timberlake is renowned for his diverse artistry in songwriting, showmanship, tenor vocal range, and music production. He has received numerous awards and accolades, including 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. According to Billboard, Timberlake is the best-performing male solo artist in the history of the Mainstream Top 40.

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 main cast member of Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club, performing cover songs and choreography.

While on the show, Timberlake worked with future bandmate JC Chasez, as well as future pop cultural figures including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Keri Russell, and Ryan Gosling. Timberlake and Chasez soon rose to prominence in late 1997 as the lead vocalists for the boy band *NSYNC. The group released four commercially successful studio albums, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time with sales of over 70 million units worldwide.

As a solo act, Timberlake has sold over 88 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Timberlake’s debut solo album, Justified (2002), yielded his first solo hit singles, “Cry Me a River” and “Rock Your Body”. His second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), reached further success as it debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and spawned three consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: “SexyBack” (featuring Timbaland), “My Love” (featuring T.I.) and “What Goes Around… Comes Around”.

Both of his first two albums exceeded sales of 10 million copies and received triple platinum certification by the RIAA. Meanwhile, Timberlake collaborated with other artists on a string of successful singles, including The Lonely Island’s viral hit “Dick in a Box” in 2006, his fourth US number-one single with Timbaland’s “Give It to Me” in 2007, as well as Madonna’s “4 Minutes”, 50 Cent’s “Ayo Technology” and T.I.’s “Dead and Gone” in the following years.

From 2008 through 2012, Timberlake paused his musical career to focus on acting, starring in the films The Love Guru (2008), The Social Network (2010), Bad Teacher (2011), Friends with Benefits (2011), and In Time (2011). He returned to recording in 2013 with his third and fourth albums, The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, both of which peaked at the Billboard 200 and spawned the Hot 100 top-ten singles “Suit & Tie” (featuring Jay-Z), “Mirrors”, and “Not a Bad Thing”. The 20/20 Experience became the best-selling album of that year.

Timberlake voiced the character Branch in DreamWorks’ Trolls franchise; the soundtrack for the first film included his fifth US number-one single, “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. He had also previously voiced Artie in Shrek the Third. His fifth studio album, Man of the Woods (2018), became his fourth US number-one album and was supported by two top-ten singles, “Filthy” and “Say Something” (featuring Chris Stapleton); it was named the sixth best-selling album of that year. His upcoming sixth album, Everything I Thought It Was (2024), is being preceded by the singles “Selfish” and “Drown”.