Best Known As: Film Actor,  Television Actor,  Music Performer

Gist:  Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American pop musician. He has won six Grammy Awards as well as an Emmy Award. He got his big break when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The New Mickey Mouse Club where he met future bandmate JC Chasez. Timberlake came to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the pop group 'N Sync, whose launch was financed by Lou Pearlman.

In 2002, he released his debut solo album, Justified, which sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. The album was a commercial success, spawning the hits "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body". Timberlake continued his success with his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and produced the US number-one hit singles "SexyBack," "My Love," and "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around."

Timberlake's first two albums made him one of the most commercially successful singers in the world, each selling in excess of 9 million copies (in addition to his 55 million albums sold with 'N Sync). Aside from music, he has also begun an acting career, while his other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants [ Destino] and [ Southern Hospitality].

Life Facts:  Timberlake was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lynn Harless (née Bomar) and Randall Timberlake. He is of English ancestry, although he has also claimed some American Indian ancestry, possibly through unconfirmed descent from Henry Timberlake. His paternal grandfather, Charles L. Timberlake, husband of Bobbye Joice, was a Baptist minister, and Timberlake was raised Baptist. He considers himself more "spiritual than religious,".

His parents divorced about 1985, and both have remarried. His mother, who now runs an entertainment company called Just-in Time Entertainment, remarried to Paul Harless, a banker, when Justin was aged five. His father, a choir director at a Baptist church, has two children, Jonathan (born c. 1993) and Steven Robert (born August 14, 1998), from his second marriage to Lisa Perry. Timberlake's half-sister, Laura Katherine, died shortly after birth on May 14, 1997, and is mentioned in his acknowledgments in the album *NSYNC as "My Angel in Heaven."

In 1993, Timberlake joined the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club. His castmates included future girlfriend and pop superstar Britney Spears, future tourmate Christina Aguilera, and future bandmate JC Chasez. The show ended in 1994, but late in 1995 Timberlake recruited Chasez to be in an all-male singing group organized by boy band manager Lou Pearlman that eventually became 'N Sync.

In August 2002, after months of recording Justified, his debut solo album, Timberlake performed at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, where he premiered his first single, "Like I Love You," a sparse dance track produced by The Neptunes. The song reached number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold fewer copies than previous 'N Sync efforts. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling 439,000 copies in its first week of release. It eventually went on to sell more than three million copies in the U.S. and more than seven million copies worldwide. The album also received critical acclaim, thanks to its heavy R&B influence provided by hip-hop producers The Neptunes and Timbaland. It spun off hits throughout late 2002 and 2003, including the top ten singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body." Timberlake supported the album by co-headlining the Justified/Stripped Tour with Christina Aguilera in the summer of 2003. At the end of the year, Timberlake recorded a song entitled "I'm Lovin' It." It was used by McDonald's as the theme to its "I'm Lovin' It" campaign. The deal with McDonald's earned Timberlake an estimated $6 million. A tour entitled Justified and Lovin' It Live was included with the deal as well. Timberlake was featured on Nelly's song, "Work It", which was remixed and included on Nelly's 2003 remix album.

In February 2004, during the halftime show of the Super Bowl XXXVIII broadcast on the CBS television network, Timberlake performed with Janet Jackson before a television audience of more than 140 million viewers. At the end of the performance, Timberlake tore off a part of Jackson's black leather costume in a "costume reveal" meant to accompany a portion of the song lyrics. Part of the costume detached, and Jackson's breast was briefly exposed. Timberlake apologized for the incident, stating he was "sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl...." The phrase "wardrobe malfunction" has since been used by the media to refer to the incident and has entered pop culture. As a result of the controversy, Timberlake and Jackson were threatened with exclusion from the 2004 Grammy Awards unless they agreed to apologize on screen at the event. Timberlake attended and issued a scripted apology when accepting the first of two Grammy Awards he received that night (Best Pop Vocal Album for Justified and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Cry Me a River"). He had also been nominated for Album of the Year for Justified, Record of the Year for "Cry Me a River," and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Where Is the Love?" with The Black Eyed Peas.

In April 2007, Timberlake was seen entering a London studio with Madonna, thus confirming rumors that he was collaborating with the pop star. He revealed that "we actually wound up with 5 or 6 really good songs, some finished, some unfinished, and we're gonna go back in July and finish some more stuff." When asked if he would be singing with Madonna, he said, "[p]ossibly, yeah!".

The single produced by Timberlake, Madonna, and Timbaland was reported to be "4 Minutes", which Timbaland first played at Philadelphia's Jingle Ball on December 17, 2007. When released on March 17, 2008, "4 Minutes" was revealed to be a duet between Timberlake and Madonna, with backing vocals by Timbaland. It was the lead single from Madonna's eleventh studio album Hard Candy, which also features four other songwriting and production collaborations from Timberlake. The single was an international hit, and has topped the charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and reached the Top 5 in Austria, France, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. Timberlake also appears in the music video which was directed by Jonas & François. On March 30, 2008, Timberlake performed the song at Madonna's Hard Candy Promo Show at Roseland Ballroom in New York City. On November 6, 2008, Timberlake performed the song with Madonna on the Los Angeles stop of her Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Around June 2007 Timberlake co-wrote, produced and provided vocals for the songs Nite Runner and Falling Down for Duran Duran's album Red Carpet Massacre, released on November 13, 2007 in the USA. Falling Down had been released as a single in the UK on the previous day.

Also in 2007, Timberlake made an appearance on 50 Cent's third album, Curtis. Timberlake, along with Timbaland, is featured on a track called "Ayo Technology", which was the album's fourth single. Also, another possible collaboration was to occur with Lil Wayne for his album Tha Carter III with Nelly Furtado and Timbaland.{{cite news|title=Lil Wayne Plans His Own Leak|author=Shaheem Reid, Jayson Rodriguez

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With the wrapping up of the 'FutureSex/LoveSounds' tour of Australasia and the Middle East in November 2007, Timberlake resumed his film career. Projects underway early in 2008 were starring roles in Mike Myers' comedy The Love Guru (released June 20, 2008) and Mike Meredith's drama The Open Road. In March 2008 it was announced that he was be an executive producer in an American adaptation of the hit Peruvian comedy My Problem with Women for NBC.

He is featured on T.I.'s sixth studio album, Paper Trail on his fourth single "Dead and Gone". In November, it was confirmed that Timberlake will be making a guest appearance and producing a few tracks on R&B/Pop singer Ciara's upcoming album Fantasy Ride due out May 5, 2009. He features on Ciara's second single "Love Sex Magic" as confirmed by her label. The video was shot February 20, 2009.

On November 20, 2008, TV Guide reported that Timberlake?s next single Follow My Lead, which also featured vocals by Timberlake?s protégée, former YouTube star Esmee Denters, will be available for exclusive download through MySpace. All proceeds will go to Shriners Hospitals for Children, a charity dedicated to improving pediatric care for sick children.

Timberlake has donated parts of his earnings to charity. On March 23, 2008, he donated $100,000 to the Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum and another $100,000 to the Memphis Music Foundation.

In October 2005, the Grammy Association presented Timberlake with an award for his humanitarian efforts in Tennessee, alongside writer/director Craig Brewer, also a Memphis native.

Career Facts:  (2007)]]

Timberlake released his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, on September 12, 2006. It is the biggest album for pre-orders on iTunes, and beat Coldplay's record for the biggest one-week sales of a digital album. The album was produced by Timbaland and Danja (who produced a bulk of the album), will.i.am, Rick Rubin and Timberlake himself, and features guest vocals by Snoop Dogg, Three 6 Mafia, T.I. and will.i.am. A studio representative described it as being "all about sexiness" and aiming for "an adult feel".

The album's lead single, "SexyBack", was performed by Timberlake at the opening of the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for seven consecutive weeks. "My Love", the album's second single, also produced by Timbaland and featuring rapper T.I., reached number one on the Hot 100, as did third single "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude". The song is reported to have been inspired by the break-up of his childhood friend and business partner, Trace Ayala, with actress Elisha Cuthbert. In October 2006, Timberlake said that he would focus on his music career rather than his film roles, specifying that leaving the music industry would be a "dumb thing to do at this point".

In February 2008, Timberlake was awarded 2 Grammy Awards. At the 50th Grammy Awards Ceremony, Timberlake won the Male Pop Performance Award for "What Goes Around...Comes Around", and the Dance Recording Award for "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows".