Timberlake Born: From Boy Band to Pop Solo Star

He was already famous before his voice changed. Justin Timberlake had been a Mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club alongside Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, and JC Chasez when he was twelve years old. The show's alumni list reads like a casting sheet for the next two decades of American pop culture. Born in Memphis, Tennessee on January 31, 1981, Timberlake grew up singing in church and competing in talent shows. He joined NSYNC at fourteen. The group sold over 70 million records worldwide, with their 2000 album No Strings Attached selling 2.4 million copies in its first week, a record that stood for fifteen years. He was the frontman: the one the audience watched, the one who could dance, sing, and hold a camera's attention. His solo career launched in 2002 with Justified, produced largely by The Neptunes and Timbaland. The album announced a complete break from the boy band formula. "Cry Me a River," a thinly veiled song about his breakup with Britney Spears, was cold, sophisticated, and nothing like anything he'd recorded before. It went to number three worldwide. SexyBack, released in 2006, was so different from anything on radio that his label, Jive Records, initially didn't want to release it as a single. The production was harsh, distorted, almost industrial. It went to number one in seven countries. His second and third solo albums, FutureSex/LoveSounds and The 20/20 Experience, both debuted at number one. He has won ten Grammy Awards across pop, R&B, and dance categories. He expanded into acting with unexpected credibility. His performance in The Social Network as Sean Parker, the fast-talking Napster co-founder, drew praise from critics who hadn't considered him a serious actor. He appeared in Inside Llewyn Davis, Friends with Benefits, and several Saturday Night Live hosting stints that became recurring cultural events. His career spans music, film, and a degree of cultural ubiquity that most entertainers from his generation never achieved.