Justin Timberlake is an American actor and singer-songwriter who first appeared in the television shows Star Search and The New Mickey Mouse Club as a child. In the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as the lead singer and youngest member of the boy band 'N Sync, whose launch was financed by Lou Pearlman.
During the group's hiatus, Timberlake released his solo studio albums Justified (2002) and FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006); the former spawned hits "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body", while the latter debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 and produced the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". With each album exceeding sales of seven million copies worldwide, he was established as one of the most commercially successful singers. From 2007 through 2012, Timberlake focused on his acting career, effectively putting his music career on hiatus; he held starring roles in the films The Social Network, Bad Teacher, In Time and Friends with Benefits.
In 2013, Timberlake resumed his music career with his third and fourth albums The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience: 2 of 2. The former became one of the best-selling records of the year and spawned hits "Suit & Tie" and "Mirrors", while the latter is preceded by lead single "Take Back the Night". Timberlake's work has earned him six Grammy Awards and four Emmy Awards. His other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality.
On television, Timberlake was the first celebrity to appear on Punk'd, a "candid camera" type show created by Ashton Kutcher to trick celebrities. Three episodes later, he set up Kelly Osbourne to be "punk'd", thus making him the first celebrity to appear on the show more than once. Timberlake later spoofed Ashton Kutcher and Punk'd in a 2003 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Timberlake hosted many music events, including the European MTV Music Awards in 2006. On December 16, 2006, Timberlake hosted Saturday Night Live, doing double duty as both host and musical guest for the second time. During this appearance, he and Andy Samberg performed an R&B song for a skit titled "Dick in a Box", which some radio stations have aired as an unofficial single from Timberlake and has become one of the most viewed videos on YouTube. The song was later featured on The Lonely Island's debut album Incredibad. Timberlake has gone on to host Saturday Night Live four more times. Timberlake appeared on Jimmy Fallon's debut as host of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on March 2, 2009. Timberlake is also the executive producer on the MTV reality series The Phone, which premiered on April 21, 2009.
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