SALT LAKE CITY — For Justin Timberlake, heartbreak created one of his career-defining songs.
- The pop singer revealed in his new book, “Hindsight: & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me,” that he didn’t plan on writing the early-aughts hit “Cry Me a River.” But an ugly breakup spurred him to put pen to paper, People magazine reports.
- “I’ve been scorned. I’ve been pissed off. I wrote ‘Cry Me a River’ in two hours. I didn’t plan on writing it,” he wrote in the book.
- “The feelings I had were so strong that I had to write it, and I translated my feelings into a form where people could listen and, hopefully, relate to it,” Timberlake continued. “People heard me and they understood it because we’ve all been there.”
- The song released in 2002 several months after his breakup with fellow pop star Britney Spears.
- The song earned a Grammy award in 2004 for best male pop vocal performance.
True or not true?: Timberlake and the song’s producer, Timbaland, basically confirmed the song was about Spears back in 2011, New York Daily News reports.
In an “E! True Hollywood Story” special episode, Timberlake said he was furious with Spears, which led to the song.
- "I was on a phone call that was not the most enjoyable phone call,” Timberlake recalls on the show. “I walked into the studio and (Timbaland) could tell I was visibly angry."