Justin Timberlake

He's America's Robbie Williams — the former boy band member who struck out alone and carved his own proud signature on the school desk of global pop. Showbiz started early for Justin Timberlake, who got his foot in the door with the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club along with Britney Spears and fellow *NSYNC-er, J.C. Chasez. Debut single "Like I Love You" (with rap twosome Clipse) set his solo stone a-rollin', gathering not a shred of moss through the phenomenon of 2007's FutureSex/LoveSounds and the 2008 Madonna hook-up, "4 Minutes".

We give our Next Steps over to J.T.'s *NSYNC hits and stellar collaborations.

Time to rewind the clock, back before the Janet Jackson Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction incident, to take in some of J.T.'s finest moments in *NSYNC colours, including "I Want You Back" from the group's self-titled 1998 debut and "Bye Bye Bye" from 2000's No Strings Attached. Never one to pass up a superstar collaboration, Timberlake has popped up with a slew of artists in the "featured" slot — he chipped in with an uncredited vocal on the Black Eyed Peas' 2003 breakthrough single "Where Is the Love?" and sang on/produced Duran Duran's "Nite-Runner".

Justin Timberlake was just five years into his solo career when FutureSex/LoveSounds spawned four Top 20 hits in the U.K. — six in the U.S., where three consecutive singles reached #1 status too: the rabid-and-randy electro of "SexyBack", the skidding synths and snickering samples of "My Love", and the future-shocked blue-eyed soul of "What Goes Around . . . / . . . Comes Around". Such avant-pop leanings aren't surprising when you consider Timberlake's gate-crashing debut, Justified, a honey-dipped pop-R&B platter with a sturdy, beat-savvy backbone, from the moonwalk-optional disco of "Rock Your Body" (a Neptunes track originally intended for Jackson) to the knuckle-dragging crawl of "Cry Me a River", a catchy but caustic kiss-off to Britney Spears. Really, now: who knew "the next Michael Jackson" would be a former Mickey Mouse Club member with boy band (*NSYNC) credentials and Timbaland on speed dial?