Justin Timberlake [1] has been in the spotlight since he was a kid, but how well do you really know the singer? To celebrate the new dad [2] who has started to share photos of his son [3], Silas, we're taking a look at some of the must-know facts every die-hard fan should know. From his time on The Mickey Mouse Club to the *NSYNC years to the ups and downs of his love life, there have been more than a few memorable JT moments. Test your knowledge and get to know more about the singer with a look at these can't-miss tidbits and quotes, then see his mom's sweet reaction to her new grandson [4] plus photos from his recent, headline-making appearance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards [5].
His Family Life
- Justin grew up in Shelby Forest, TN, and his father was the choir director at a local Baptist church.
- His parents divorced in 1985.
- Justin's mom, Lynn, remarried, and his stepdad, Paul Harless, is a banker [6].
- He still finds comfort in a small-town setting [7]. In 2011, he told The Guardian, "What makes most people comfortable is some sort of sense of nostalgia. I grew up in a small town and I could count my friends on one hand, and I still live that way. I think I'll die in a small town."
His No. 1 Fan
- It was Lynn who came up with the name *NSYNC!
- Meanwhile, he's really close to his mom [8], who sometimes went out with him and stayed out later than he did when he was younger. Back in 2003, he said, "I think that's part of my problem with girls. You keep searching for somebody as good as your mother, and that's a losing battle."
- That love is permanent in more ways than one, since JT has a tattoo on his back of an angel holding a banner with his mom's initials in it.
The MMC and *NSYNC Years
- Justin and Ryan Gosling stole golf carts [9] and thought they were "big sh*t" on the set of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, and they'd drive through the park and grab milkshakes.
- After each *NSYNC performance, JT took notes [10] while watching tapes of the show. "I was very serious," he said. "Too serious, probably. It's very type-A behavior."
- He remembers the *NSYNC days [11] as both fun and sad, and in one candid quote, he said, "We were being pitted against all these other groups, it was this big competition. We thought: we're better than them. So we worked really hard. We had a lot of fun, too, on the road. But as a lifestyle, it's isolating, and weird, and sometimes really sad. It's manic. That's the best way I can describe it. You go from an arena of 80,000 people to a tour bus where you're all alone, from a place where the decibel level is so loud you can almost see it, to absolute silence."
- Of course, the fame did come with perks. It really was a wild time for him and fellow '90s groups like Backstreet Boys because, as he once put it [12], "We could literally go, 'Oh, man, let's go to Bali,' and we'd be on a plane to Bali.'"
- Meanwhile, although it's a little hard to believe, he claims he wasn't the guy getting all the "action" with girls. He told Playboy that because he was the youngest one in the group, the other guys were protective of him [13].
His Exes
- There's a reason he tended to date mostly stars. Back in 2011, he told Vanity Fair that he thinks celebrities find "refuge" in being with other celebrities [14], saying, "Why do you think we wind up dating each other, and feeling more comfortable around each other? We understand what it's like. 'Oh, thank God — finally, somebody who knows how I feel.'"
- Even so, he didn't only date famous ladies. Soon after the 2002 release of Justified, he told Rolling Stone that he went on a date with a girl in Tennessee [15]. They went to dinner, went back to his house, and watched a basketball game on TV.
- Justin had three major heartbreaks [16] early on. There were two breakups in his midteens, plus, of course, there was Britney Spears [17]. He said of the three breakups, "They've all gone down the same way. All of them. Three strikes, I'm out."
- After the Britney breakup, he called their time together [18] "like something from a damn fairy tale" and he said, "I may not ever get over her . . . I do have to come to the realization that I might never."
- Justin also felt there was "nothing normal" about him and Britney, and of their time together, he said [19], "We spent way too much time being the biggest thing for teenyboppers."
- Although he toured with Christina Aguilera [20], the pair never dated. He did date Alyssa Milano [21], though, and he had crushes on Shannyn Sossamon and Natalie Imbruglia [22]. Of the latter, he joked, "I'd like to start a rumor about me and her."
SNL and His Comedy Chops
- He met BFF Jimmy Fallon for the first time [23] in 2002 at the MTV VMAs, which Jimmy hosted.
- Thanks to "D*ck in a Box," JT is an Emmy winner. The video won for outstanding original music and lyrics in 2007, and in both 2009 and 2011, he won for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for his appearances on SNL.
- In 2011, Justin credited SNL [24] and the viral videos for hugely boosting his career.
The Music
- At 11 years old, Justin competed on Star Search, singing Alan Jackson's "Love's Got a Hold on You." (He lost.)
- Justin cowrote all 13 songs on his first solo album, Justified.
- He's obviously talented, but he has mentioned a weakness [25] before, admitting that he's "really bad" at coming up with album titles.
- Before he hits the stage, JT takes a shot [26] of tequila.
Surprising Confessions
- Apparently people called Justin "Pizza Face" [27] during his acne-ridden years.
- In 2003, he very candidly explained to Rolling Stone that he wasn't a huge fan of masturbating [28], saying, "I mean, it is what it is, a safe haven, there when you need it, and I don't feel guilty about it. But I always like to do everything at its best, and that just seems like settling, doesn't it?"
- Speaking of pot, he was really high when he got Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher [29]. Years after the incident, he told Playboy about that day [30], saying, "I actually stopped smoking pot for nine to 10 months after [Punk'd]. I was so stoned. If you ask my friends, if they’re honest they would probably say that’s the only way to get me as dizzy as I was."
- In 2011, he also explained why he liked smoking pot [31], saying, "The only thing pot does for me is it gets me to stop thinking. Sometimes I have a brain that needs to be turned off. Some people are just better high."
His Other Half
- Justin and Jessica were first linked [32] in January 2007, when they reportedly chatted at a Golden Globes afterparty. Soon after, they went snowboarding together at the Sundance Film Festival, and by May, Justin was "in love" [33] with her.
- The couple split in March 2011, but just a few months later, Justin called Jessica [34] "the single-handedly most significant person" in his life in an interview with Vanity Fair.
- Justin and Jessica were spotted together in Toronto in August 2011, and news of their engagement broke in January 2012. The couple tied the knot in Southern Italy that October.
- Although the pair is pretty private about their relationship, he did gush to Ellen DeGeneres [35] about his wife when he appeared on her show in April 2013, saying, "Every once in a while I catch a glimpse of her when she doesn't see me looking and I have this moment where I'm like, 'If you never make a good decision, if you only make bad decisions for the rest of your life, you made one really good decision." He added, "It's nice to marry your best friend. It suits me."
- The couple's son, Silas Randall Timberlake [36], shares JT's middle name, which is also his father's name.
