It’s been a storied career for 32-year-old Justin Timberlake. After starting out as a cast member on “The Mickey Mouse Club” in the early ‘90s, he soared to fame as a member of the boy band ‘N Sync. Since then, Timberlake launched a successful solo music career, dabbled in acting on the big screen, endured some very public romances and splits before his wedding to actress Jessica Biel, and—finally—has come back to his musical roots with his new single, “Suit & Tie,” featuring Jay-Z, with a tour planned for this summer.
In honor of Timberlake’s recent return to the “Saturday Night Live” stage and his new CD, “The 20/20 Experience,” set to be released on March 19, let’s take a look at highlights from the entertainer’s life and career.
Pictured: Timberlake and Jay-Z performed on stage at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, 2013.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE’S RISE FROM MOUSEKETEER TO MEGASTAR
It’s been a storied career for 32-year-old Justin Timberlake. After starting out as a cast member on “The Mickey Mouse Club” in the early ‘90s, he soared to fame as a member of the boy band ‘N Sync. Since then, Timberlake launched a successful solo music career, dabbled in acting on the big screen, endured some very public romances and splits before his wedding to actress Jessica Biel, and—finally—has come back to his musical roots with his new single, “Suit & Tie,” featuring Jay-Z, with a tour planned for this summer.
In honor of Timberlake’s recent return to the “Saturday Night Live” stage and his new CD, “The 20/20 Experience,” set to be released on March 19, let’s take a look at highlights from the entertainer’s life and career.
Pictured: Timberlake and Jay-Z performed on stage at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, 2013.
Timberlake began his career in the spotlight at “The Mickey Mouse Club” from 1989-1994. Recognize any of these other former Mouseketeers? Yes, his fellow cast members included fellow pop stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and even Ryan Gosling.
Counter clockwise from top left: T.J. Fantini, Tate Lynche, Ryan Gosling, Nikki Deloach, Spears, Aguilera, and Timberlake.
Timberlake, who was once named one of Teen People’s 25 Hottest Stars Under 25, rose to stardom as a member of the successful pop group ‘N Sync, which performed together from 1995 to 2002.
Just look at that fro.
Backstreet Boys? No way. Timberlake is seen sharing a moment with some fellow ‘N Sync-ers. Pictured back in 2000, the members of the musical group attended a news conference in New York. Lance Bass (left), Chris Kirkpatrick (second from left), and Timberlake (right) posed with comedic duo Marlon Wayans (second from right) and his brother Shawn (third from right).
As ‘N Sync’s frontman, Timberlake worked the crowd during the group’s “No Strings Attached” tour at Madison Square Garden on July 25, 2000.
Timberlake performed with ‘N Sync at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York on Sept. 7, 2000.
‘N Sync opened their 2001 concert tour onstage at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 23, 2001. From left: Group members J.C. Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone (obscured), and Lance Bass.
Remember this highly publicized pop romance? Timberlake and Britney Spears first met as cast members of “The Mickey Mouse Club” in the early ‘90s before dating during their pop star years. Their end as a couple came in May 2002.
Here, they attended the album release party for Britney’s album “Britney” in New York in 2001.
The once-happy couple arrived at the launch party for ‘N Sync’s album, “Celebrity” in Los Angeles in 2001.
The blond duo arrived for the 29th American Music Awards in Los Angeles in 2002.
Say “bye bye bye” to the boy band. In 2002, Timberlake launched his solo career. His debut album, “Justified,” sold more than seven million copies worldwide. Here, the artist commonly referred to as “JT” showed off his moves at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in August 2002.
Timberlake worked more of his solo routine onstage, complete with an outfit reminiscent of Michael Jackson, at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2002.
As part of a tour with yet another former Mickey Mouse Club member, Christina Aguilera, Timberlake performed at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, Calif., in 2003.
Not just talented, but gullible, too! JT was the first victim of Ashton Kutcher’s MTV prank show Punk’d in 2002, where he cried on air after he was told his home was being seized due to unpaid taxes.
Time Magazine named the prank No. 3 in their list of the most epic moments in reality TV history.
Aguilera wasn’t the only pop star with whom Timberlake performed. Here, pop singer Kylie Minogue grooved alongside JT onstage during The Brit Awards at Earls Court, London, in February 2003.
No stranger to awards shows, Timberlake sported an epic goatee to the 17th annual Soul Train Music Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on March 1, 2003, in Pasadena, Calif.
Pop star or comedian? In a skit on Saturday Night Live, Timberlake showed off his skills as an impersonator by doing an impression of then-”Newlyweds” star Jessica Simpson, complete with Jimmy Fallon as her pop star hubby, Nick Lachey.
Timberlake smoldered on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine on Jan. 3, 2003.
Pop power couple Spears and Timberlake may have ended their relationship in 2002, but that didn’t keep JT from finding love with another blond beauty once again.
Timberlake met actress Cameron Diaz at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in April, 2003. They seriously dated for almost four years before announcing their split in January 2007.
Pictured: Diaz (center right) and Timberlake sit together before the start of the Los Angeles Lakers’ home opener against the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 28, 2003.
Who could forget Justin’s famously controversial halftime show?
Janet Jackson and Timberlake performed together during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston on Feb. 1, 2004. After reciting his lyric, “Bet I’ll have you naked by the end of this song,” Timberlake ripped off one of Jackson’s chest plates during the finale of their performance, leaving Jackson exposed. The cause? A “wardrobe malfunction,” Timberlake said in an apology statement.
CBS, the network that broadcast the Super Bowl, also issued an apology.
After launching a successful solo music career, Timberlake tried his hand at acting by playing Frankie in New Line Cinema’s film, “Alpha Dog,” which received mixed reviews.
Back on stage, Timberlake performed a medley of his songs before hosting the MTV Europe Music Awards in Copenhagen in November 2006.
The singer released his second solo album, “FutureSex/LoveSounds,” in 2006 with two hit singles, “SexyBack” and “My Love.”
2006 was a busy year on stage for Timberlake. Here, the singer performed as model Alessandra Ambrosio walked the runway during the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The show was held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., in November 2006.
Timberlake checked out a model in a barely-there outfit on the runway.
The entertainer arrived at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards, where he was one of the night’s performers. The awards were held in Culver City, Calif., in June 2006.
Back at Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg and Timberlake performed in a digital short by The Lonely Island that went hugely viral, “[Expletive] in a Box.” The popular short was the first in a series of multiple digital shorts between Timberlake and The Lonely Island, including “Motherlover” and “3-Way (The Golden Rule).”
They can’t all be hits—the entertainer and actress Christina Ricci appeared together in the flop “Black Snake Moan,” which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Timberlake sang “Ain’t No Sunshine” with My GRAMMY Moment winner Robyn Troup at the 49th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 11, 2007 in Los Angeles.
Timberlake picked up a Grammy for “Best Dance Recording” for “SexyBack,” which he recorded with Timbaland.
Following his romance with Cameron Diaz, Timberlake began dating actress Jessica Biel. Although the two broke up in March 2011, they reunited that fall, and went on to get married on Oct. 19, 2012 in Fasano, Italy.
Do you recognize this spot? That’s right, Timberlake is no stranger to Harvard Square. He and his main squeeze visited Cambridge in 2008, where they dined at Daedalus.
JT jumped on the voiceover bandwagon as Artie in 2007’s “Shrek the Third,” and again in 2010’s “Shrek Forever After.”
Pictured: Timberlake during the premiere of “Shrek The Third” in Madrid in 2007.
In 2008, Timberlake had a hit with Madonna when the pair recorded a duet, “4 Minutes.”
Pictured: The two performed at a concert to celebrate the launch of Madonna’s album “Hard Candy” in New York that same year.
In 2008, Justin was really starting to get into his acting groove. Timberlake (not pictured) starred as Jacques “Le Coq” Grande in the comedy “The Love Guru” alongside (from left) Verne Troyer as Coach Cherkov, Jessica Alba as Jane Bullard, Manu Narayan as Rajneesh, and Mike Myers as Guru Pitka star.
Timberlake and Biel had some fun at the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2009.
GQ knows what’s up—in February 2009, the magazine named the triple threat “Most Stylish Man in America.”
Biel and Timberlake got all dressed up to attend The Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2009 in New York City.
Timberlake and actor Bradley Cooper worked the phones during the “Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief” telethon in Los Angeles on Jan. 22, 2010.
Timberlake also performed at the “Hope For Haiti Now” telethon.
The next day, a scruffy Justin presented an award with actress Kate Hudson at the 16th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 23, 2010.
No, that’s not a stunning blond with a surprisingly strong jaw line: That’s JT accepting his Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award from Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals in February 2010.
In 2010, Timberlake appeared in the hit film “The Social Network,” starring as former Napster founder and party animal Sean Parker. The film went on to be nominated for eight Oscar Awards. Later that year, he also voiced Boo Boo in the widely-panned animated film “Yogi Bear.”
Continuing his journey deeper into acting and (sadly) further away from his music career, Timberlake starred with Mila Kunis in 2011’s “Friends with Benefits.” That year, he also starred alongside ex-girlfriend Cameron Diaz in “Bad Teacher,” and with Amanda Seyfried in the sci-fi thriller “In Time.”
Ever a Southern gent, when a fan uploaded a YouTube video inviting Timberlake to the United States Marine Corps Ball in July 2011, he accepted her invitation. Mila Kunis also attended the ball in North Carolina with a fan.
Newlyweds Timberlake and Biel attended the 55th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, 2013, where he performed his new single “Suit and Tie” with Jay-Z.
