BackstageOL Artist of the Year: Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake’s year has been nothing short of phenomenal. After taking a six year hiatus from the music industry after the release of FutureSex/LoveSounds in 2006, Timberlake returned stronger than ever with two major releases in 2013.

It all started when Timberlake posted, “I think I’M READY” on Twitter back on January 13, 2013, before premiering “Suit & Tie” on YouTube. Two days later, Timberlake would relaunch MySpace with the site’s featured image showing Timberlake wearing a suit and tie. For joining or signing-up for Myspace, users were able to download or stream the single from the social networking site.

After not performing in concert for four years, Timberlake would make his return to the stage the night before Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans for the “DirecTV Super Saturday Night.” Exactly a week later, he would go on to perform “Suit & Tie” on stage at the 55th Grammy Awards with Jay Z.

Justin Timberlake released his third studio album The 20/20 Experience on March 19. The album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart with 968,000 copies sold, the biggest opening week of the year. At the time of its release, The 20/20 Experience became the fastest selling album on iTunes with over 580,000 digital copies sold worldwide the week of its release. To date, the album has sold over 2.4 million copies.

Another big release for the year was Jay Z’s Magna Carta… Holy Grail. The album was one of the top selling albums of the year and Timberlake was featured on three of the albums biggest songs: “Holy Grail”, “BBC” and “Heaven”. Since the duo had already collaborated on each other’s albums, they decided to take their show on the road with the Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour. The tour would sell out in all 15 venues with over 620,000 people attending the show.

After the Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour, Timberlake focused his sights on the release of his fourth studio album, The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2. The 32-year-old singer had previewed the album’s lead single “Take Back The Night” during his tour with Jay Z and interest for the next release couldn’t be higher.

On September 27, Justin Timberlake released the second half of the two-piece project The 20/20 Experience. 2 of 2 received mix reviews from critics yet debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 350,000 copies sold. The album would never match the success of its predecessor, but continued to sell over 726,000 copies in the U.S.

After the release of 2 of 2, Timberlake embarked on The 20/20 Experience World Tour.  Beginning on November 6 in New York City, the 96-date tour keeps the singer on the road until August of 2014.  After playing shows throughout North America, Timberlake will head overseas to perform in Europe before returning for a another stint in the U.S.

In addition to an already hectic schedule, Timberlake made numerous television appearances including Saturday Night Live twice (once as a musical guest and the other as host/music guest), three episodes of The Voice UK, the American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and more.  He even appeared in the Golden Globes-nominated Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis.

In 2014 Timberlake will continue to be rewarded for the previous year’s hard work.  At the 56 Grammy Awards, he is nominated for seven awards including Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Solo Pop Performance with “Mirrors”,  and Best Music Video for “Suit & Tie”.  He is also nominated for a Golden Globe for his work on the song “Please Mr. Kennedy” featured in Inside Llewyn Davis.