Biography
Justin Randall Timberlake was born at St. Judes hospital
in Memphis, Tennesee on January 31, 1981 at 6:30 PM. He was always a performer.
"When he was only like 3 or 4, he used to harmonize on the radio, and if you
tried to sing with him, he'd get real mad, like, don't sing my part!" his mother
Lynn Harless (who was married to Randy Timberlake at Justin's birth, divorced
three years later, and remarried two years later to Paul Harless) recalls. Randy
Timberlake (Justin's biological dad) also remarried, to Lisa Timberlake. They
gave Justin 2 half siblings. Jonathan(9) and Steven (5). Laura Katherine
was Justin's half-sister who Justin refers to as his "Angel In Heaven", for she died
shortly after birth.
Justin went to elementary school at EE Jeter in
Millington, Tennesee. He was quiet until third grade when 4
other friends and he lipsynched to NKOTB for show and tell one day. He recalls
tons on elementary girls chasing him down the hall for
his autograph. He then took voice lessons with Bob Westbrook. Justin entered a
Southern Charm Beauty Pageant and he swept out
the competition winning first in all categories: Modeling, talent, and
handsomeness (duh!) and he even edged out the females! When he was 11
years old, he performed on Star Search beating out 5000 competitors and losing
to one. Little did the winner know, Justin would become a bigger celebrity than
her!
Star Search was in the same studio as the
Mickey Mouse Club auditions. He saw the cast's pictures on the wall and decided to try
out. Matt Casella, Casting Director says "My eye kept going over to Justin
because he was dressed perfectly with not a hair out of place. So he came in and
sang 'When A Man Loves A Woman' and he sang the $h! out of it!" Only 7 regulars
out of over 30,000 were casted. Justin joined the cast (already comprised of JC
Chasez, Keri Russel and others) with Britney, Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, and
others. On the set Justin
met JC, and also gave Britney Spears her first kiss. "It definitely had this great expectations
vibe to it," says Justin of his early relationship with Britney.
MMC was
cancelled after Justin's first two seasons, forcing Justin back to school. Justin was restless
and bored with himself in school. He was a delinquent, and he knew he had to be performing. Chris Kirkpatrick
soon called Justin (who was only 14 at the time) to join
NSYNC. They all met up, and you know the story. Nsync had 5 members, and as they
were getting a record label, former NSYNCer Jason backed out. He just wanted a
little High School band. He had no idea! This is where Justin found Lance
through his old vocal coach. They sounded perfect. "It's like your hand. Five-
you know, just perfect!" Joey says. Nsync made four albums. Their third album, No Strings Attatched
sold 1 million albums in a day, and 2.4 million by
the end of that week, making world history: Fastest Selling Album. Not
even Michael Jackson did that!
After all the craze, Justin decided to
make an album of his own. Justin soon outgrew the bubblegum lyrics of NSYNC. His
heart was in R&B. He had to keep in mind he was only 20% of NSYNC.
"Joey's from Brooklyn he's obviously not going to walk around like I do sayin'
'Hey y'all hows it goin?' I mean he'll be like 'Hey yous, dudes,' whatever I'm
not even gonna try." Thus, Justified. The album has topped the charts, selling
440,000 copies in its first day of sales, and is now 5x platinum.
In 2003 Justin swept the world with his extremely successful tour for Justified. He and Christina Aguilera combined forces for the American Tour of the summer, Justified and Stripped.
Sick and tired of his music, Justin took a break from music after Justified. He began dating Caron Diaz in 2003, and spent time vacationing with her for the next couple of years. Also In 2004 and 2005, Justin worked on several movies including Alpha Dog, Edison, Black Snake Moan, and Southland Tales. Edison was released in 2006, Alpha Dog his thearters January 8, 2007, and Blck Snake Moan was released in March of the same year.
On September 12, 2006, Justin released his second solo effort, FutureSex/LoveSounds which became one of the most successful albums of its time, also notoriously birthing the catchphrase "SexyBack." In 2007, Justin and Caeron Diaz split, leaving Justin a single man. He embarked on the FutureSexLoveShow Tour which lasted for the first three quarters of 2007.