by: Mike Halterman
Grammy Award-winning singer Justin Timberlake, fresh off the success of his newest albums The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, has embarked on a new tour to promote the albums. He will make a stop in Orlando at the Amway Center on Thursday, December 19, at 8 p.m. Originally the tour was scheduled to end in February 2014, but high demand caused him to add additional U.S. and international dates through August 2014. As a result, his south Florida concert dates will occur months from now. He will perform in Sunrise at the BB&T Center on Tuesday, March 4, at 8 p.m., and in Miami at the American Airlines Arena on Wednesday, March 5, at 8 p.m.
People have known Justin Timberlake since the 1990s, when he was a part of the boy band ‘N Sync. Their three albums, *NSYNC (1998), No Strings Attached (2000) and Celebrity (2001) sold over 25 million copies in the United States alone, with the first two attaining diamond certification. From these albums, the group released such top five singles as “Bye Bye Bye,” “It’s Gonna Be Me,” and “This I Promise You.” The group went on hiatus in 2002 and eventually disbanded, in part due to Timberlake’s desire to pursue a solo career.
Timberlake debuted his first solo album, Justified, in November 2002, and it was a commercial success, peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and producing two top ten singles, “Cry Me a River” and “Rock Your Body.” His second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, was released in 2006 and was a worldwide smash success, selling over four million copies, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 album charts, and ending atop the album charts in six other countries. From there Justin Timberlake enjoyed three back-to-back chart-topping hits, starting with “SexyBack,” moving on to “My Love” and concluding with “What Goes Around…Comes Around.”
His two album releases in 2013 proved to be very successful. It was his return to music after a six-year hiatus he took to focus on acting. Timberlake helped produce the albums with Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon, Rob Knox, Daniel Jones, The Tennessee Kids, and Timbaland. Upon the release of his first of his two albums this year, Timberlake had the best-selling debut week of his career, selling nearly one million copies. As of press time, both albums together have sold over three million copies over the past nine months.
Together, the two albums have topped the charts in 11 countries, including the United States and Canada. The first single from his first 2013 album, “Suit & Tie,” features rapper Jay-Z. Favorably reviewed by critics and popular with fans, it peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Mirrors” was his second single, and was by far his best-selling single of the year. It reached the top ten in 23 different countries, and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Tunnel Vision” reached the top 40 on the U.S. R&B charts. The singles from his second album, “Take Back the Night” and “TKO,” reached the top 30 and top 40 on the U.S. pop charts respectively.
The 20/20 Experience World Tour started on November 6 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Since the tour has started, it has been 100% sold out and is on track to become one of the highest-grossing tours of the year and will no doubt also make millions of dollars in 2014. Originally the Orlando concert date was sold out, but a few more tickets are now available for purchase. Tickets are being sold at various price levels, from $57.50 to $191.75, on ticketmaster.com. You can also find tickets for the Sunrise and Miami concert dates in March on ticketmaster.com, with the tickets for Sunrise going for $65.75 – $194.25, and the tickets for Miami going for $68.45 – $200.45.
