Most singers would be left speechless if Michael Jackson had called them before he passed, but Justin Timberlake had a lot to say when it happened to him. The singer thought he was getting prank-called and ended up cussing out the "King of Pop."
© Getty Images for The Recording ATimberlake shared the story during an appearance on Complex's Re-Rank, explaining that he thought someone was pulling a prank when the voice on the other end of a phone call introduced himself as Michael. “I thought somebody was prank calling me,” Timberlake recalled.
“I was like, whoever this is, lose my number,” he said, admitting that he let a few choice words fly before the caller finally identified himself. “He's like, ‘Justin, it's Michael.’ And I was like, I just cursed Michael Jackson out.” But Jackson wasn't calling to confront him; he had a much bigger idea in mind, one that involved a song Timberlake had originally written for him.
© Getty ImagesThe story goes back to the early 2000s, when songwriters were submitting material for a potential Michael Jackson album. Timberlake said that “Rock Your Body,” “Like I Love You,” and “Gone” were all being written around the same time for that project.
After Jackson passed on “Gone,” Timberlake brought the song to an NSYNC A&R meeting, where it ultimately landed on the group's 2001 album, Celebrity.
Jackson had apparently heard the finished track and wanted to bring it back as a duet with Timberlake. “He goes, ‘I've heard this song called ‘Gone,’ and I understand that you wrote it for me,’” Timberlake recalled. “I really like this song,” Jackson told him before suggesting they rerecord it together.
© GettyBut Timberlake had already released it with NSYNC. He even tried to find a compromise, suggesting a version credited to Jackson featuring the group. But Jackson wanted it to be just the two of them.
Despite the once-in-a-lifetime offer, Timberlake said he felt a responsibility to his bandmates and wasn't comfortable walking away from the group commitment. “I can't turn my back on what I've already committed to with the fellas,” he remembered telling Jackson. He respectfully declined, hoping they could work together another time.
© GettyThe story is especially full circle considering the comparisons Timberlake faced to Jackson throughout his own rise to pop superstardom.
When he launched his solo career with Justified in 2002, critics frequently pointed to the similarities between the two artists, from their vocal style and choreography to their ability to move between pop and R&B. One producer even described Timberlake's vocals and rhythmic instincts as “very Michael Jackson” in a 2002 interview with The Guardian.
Timberlake has also spoken about growing up idolizing Jackson, making the missed opportunity to record “Gone” together an especially wild footnote in his career. The two would eventually share a posthumous musical credit of sorts: Timberlake appeared on a duet version of Jackson's “Love Never Felt So Good,” released in 2014 on the album Xscape.
