Justin Timberlake Bio

From his days as a member of one of the most successful boy bands in pop music history to proving himself as a triple threat - singer, actor and dancer - Justin Timberlake definitely brings the ‘sexy’ to everything he does. Justin Randall Timberlake, born January 31, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee, always wanted to be a singer, even if his first attempts were slightly misguided. His first major television appearance was on Star Search in 1993, singing country tunes as ‘Justin Randall.’ He lost, but was tapped by Disney for their revamp of The Mickey Mouse Club along with Christina Aguilera, J.C. Chasez and Britney Spears. When the show ended its run in 1995, Justin and J.C. went on to join a new boy band organized by the infamous manager Lou Pearlman. The boys, along with Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and Lance Bass formed *NSYNC, and their 1998 self-titled debut album sold over 11 million copies worldwide. The band got into some legal problems with Pearlman and eventually signed to Jive Records. Their next album, No Strings Attached, sold 2.4 million copies in its first week of release making it the fastest-selling album in pop history. The follow-up, Celebrity, became the second fastest-selling album in history. After the worldwide Celebrity tour in 2002, the band decided to call it quits. All in all, *NSYNC sold over 50 million albums and became the third best-selling boy band in history.

After the breakup of *NSYNC, Justin went to work on his first solo album. Working with famed hip-hop producers The Neptunes and Timbaland, Justin’s 2002 release, Justified, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling 439,000 copies in its first week of release. The disk went on to sell more than three million copies in the U.S. and more than seven million copies worldwide, on the strength of the top ten singles ‘Cry Me a River’ and ‘Rock Your Body.’ Justin Timberlake entered the halls of pop culture history on February 1, 2004, during the halftime show of the otherwise forgettable Super Bowl XXXVIII. In front of a worldwide audience of over 140 million viewers, Justin grabbed a bit too much of fellow singer Janet Jackson’s costume and briefly exposed her bare breast. The incident introduced the term ‘wardrobe malfunction’ and burned out many a TiVo. Justin issued a public apology at the 2004 Grammy awards, where he picked up two statues, for Best Pop Vocal Album for Justified and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for ‘Cry Me a River.’

After Justified, Justin Timberlake took a break from music and concentrated on his budding acting career. He starred in the gritty cop drama Edison Force in 2004, working alongside Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman. He was singled out for his performance in 2007’s Alpha Dog with Bruce Willis and Emile Hirsch and co-starred alongside Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson in the controversial Black Snake Moan. He also provided the voice of a young King Arthur in the animated film Shrek the Third. Branching out even further, Justin, known for his great sense of fashion, launched the William Rast clothing line n 2005 with childhood friend Trace Ayala.

Justin released his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, on September 12, 2006. The album debuted in the number one position on the Billboard chart, selling 684,000 copies its first week. The first single, ‘SexyBack,’ remained at the top of the charts for seven weeks. FutureSex also spawned the hits ‘My Love,' featuring rapper T.I. as well as ‘What Goes Around...’ and ‘Summer Love.’ Justin embarked on the FutureSex/LoveShow tour in January of 2007. His show at New York’s Madison Square Garden was aired on HBO in September of 2007 and later was released as a DVD. Justin again racked up the Grammys, winning the Male Pop Performance Award for ‘What Goes Around...Comes Around,’ and the Dance Recording Award for ‘LoveStoned/I Think She Knows.’ Justin Timberlake proved he had a sense of humor by appearing on Saturday Night Live in December of 2006. The singer and SNL cast member Andy Samberg caused an Internet sensation with the video they made for the now-holiday classic, ‘D**k in a Box.’ The song went on to win a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Early in 2008, Justin collaborated with Madonna for the single ‘4 Minutes’ as well as four other songs for her April 2008 release Hard Candy. The singer is again taking a hiatus from music to appear in two new films, the Mike Myers comedy The Love Guru and the serio-comic road trip flick The Open Road. He’s also doing some behind the scenes work on the small screen, serving as an executive producer for an upcoming American adaptation of the hit Peruvian comedy My Problem with Women for NBC.

You would think with everything he’s got going on that Justin wouldn’t have any time for a love life, but to the contrary, he’s had high-profile relationships with Mickey Mouse Club co-star Britney Spears from 1998 to 2002 and has also linked to Step Up actress Jenna Dewan as well as Alyssa Milano. Justin began dating actress Cameron Diaz after they met at the 2003 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. The couple were together for almost four years, officially ending their relationship in January of 2007, coincidentally when the tabloids began to report that Justin was seeing actress Jessica Biel. Justin Timberlake is a talent to be reckoned with, and we ‘think that he knows’ that.