To celebrate the upcoming release of My Super Single Dad, we have decided to commence regular blogs about famous celebrities raised by modern families! This week, we look at Justin Timberlake and his Mum, Lynn Harless
Justin grew up near Memphis, Tennessee with mum Lynn and step-dad Paul Harless. Justin describes himself as a ‘terror’ growing up with big musical ambitions. Hard work found Justin in the Mickey Mouse Club and later in boy band *NSYNC. He was just 14 when he joined the band and a musical career would mean no regular high school-just tutors. Lynn refused to let him give up his education though. “You’re going to finish high school if we have to go handcuffed together,” she says she told him.
Despite his mum and did divorcing when he was young, Justin still had a great relationship with his dad. When Justin was struggling emotionally after touring his first solo album ‘Justified’ back in 2003, his dad Randall told him: ‘You’re a workaholic. And take it from me, I’m almost 50, do the things that you can do while you are in your 20s. Enjoy your life. Enjoy what you’ve worked so hard for ” Justin didn’t grasp it right away, “… because the thing that I cared about most was work — music — and I had done it for 10 years. Longer than that if you count [‘The Mickey Mouse Club’] when I was a kid. So the first month I was like, ‘I’ll try that out,’ ’cause my dad is pretty wise.”
Justin is definitely a mumma’s boy though! She is one of his managers, and he says he tells her everything and she is his best friend. “My mother has been there so much for me, and has helped me level things out when things got crazy,” he said.
Justin even has a tattoo on his back showing an angel holding a banner with his mother’s initials.
Justin’s story illustrates that children of single parents are just as capable of achieving their dreams as children whose parents are still together. Additionally, it also exemplifies how a child can have a meaningful relationship with both parents after a divorce. All a child needs to prosper is love!
(Credit to ABC News and MTV online for quotes)
