Justin Timberlake to return to ‘SNL’ as music guest

Justin Timberlake is to return to Saturday Night Live as a music guest, it’s been confirmed this weekend (January 19).

Timberlake will appear on the January 27 episode of the show, which will be hosted by Dakota Johnson. It will be the second episode of the show this season following on from this week’s episode which saw Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi host and Reneé Rapp appear as the musical guest.

Timberlake has not appeared on SNL since December 2013. He’s hosted the show five times, and has performed on the show six times – including his 2000 debut with pop band *NSync.

Next Week!!!

Dakota Johnson

Justin Timberlake pic.twitter.com/q4m8EZ0jDx

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) January 19, 2024

Timberlake has recently teased his new album ‘Everything I Thought It Was’, dropping an album trailer and previewing its lead single ‘Selfish’.

Timberlake premiered his new music at the free Memphis concert he announced a week ago. The ‘Sexy Back’ singer played the Orpheum Theatre earlier this week (January 19), where he played ‘Selfish’ live for lucky fans.

Uploading a snippet of ‘Selfish’ to Instagram, listeners can make out the lyrics of the chorus: “If I get jealous, I can’t help it / I want every bit of you, guess I’m selfish.” 

After playing his hometown show, Timberlake also uploaded a portion of his album trailer on Instagram. The prologue is narrated by actor Benicio del Toro, and depicts a model gas station and car, with JT looking into a painted sunset. Or, as del Toro narrates: “What the fuck is he staring at?”

It was previously speculated new music was coming when Timberlake wiped his social media. His last solo album was 2018’s ‘Man Of The Woods’, which NME dubbed “ace”: “The old Timberlake shines through at all turns – and you know what? We still think he’s ace.”

Timberlake recently reunited with *NSYNC for their comeback single ‘Better Place’, their first song in more than 20 years. Timberlake described the song as a “love letter to our fans”.