The brand new season of “Oprah’s Master Class” premiered on Sunday night, May 11th, featuring the “Sexy Back” singer Justin Timberlake.
Timberlake sat down to share never-before-told stories about his childhood and his musical influences. He covered everything from his time on The Mickey Mouse Club and the end of world-renowned boy band *NSYNC.
The Grammy Award-winning singer revealed to Oprah that going solo from *NSYNC was not easy, but it was something he constantly thought about. “I would wake up every morning feeling this more and more of an urge to step out on my own and try my own hand as a musician just by myself.”
He says that leaving the boy band at the height of their popularity was “one of the best/worst things that [he has] ever done.”
“It was bittersweet. It was hard to say goodbye to that era, but I felt it changing. I felt music changing. And I felt myself changing.”
Timberlake’s first solo album, Justified, went on to win two Grammy Awards. By 2006, he released his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSound, and established himself as a successful solo artist and actor.
The superstar revealed that he originally wrote *NSYNC’s hit song “Gone” for Michael Jackson. The song was rejected, however, by the time the King of Pop decided that he wanted to do it together as a duet instead, it was too late. “I was literally punching myself,” Timberlake says.
Justin Timberlake’s appearance on “Oprah’s Master Class” re-airs Sunday, May 25, at 9 p.m. CST on OWN.
Watch clips from the episode with JT on Oprah.com.
