-My first guest is one of
the most talented people on the planet.
He's a 10-time Grammy winner,
a four-time Emmy winner, and an Oscar-nominated artist.
He stars in the new film "Palmer,"
which is streaming now on Apple TV+.
Here is Justin Timberlake.
-What do you want? -[ Laughs ]
-What do you want?
-What do you want? Hey!
-Hey! What do you want? -Hey, what do you want?
Ah! Look, that's what I'm talking about.
Look at that. That's my man right there.
Fresh cut.
-You look like you are -- You just went on vacation.
I look -- -I know.
I weirdly -- I look tan. I think it's --
-Why is that light so bright?
-I think it's high blood pressure, too.
-Oh, right. Well, every time you're --
-Also -- Yeah.
And I wear tight collared shirts.
-♪ He wears tight collared shirts ♪
♪ That's why we all know him ♪
♪ He wears tight collared shirts ♪
♪ That's why we'll show him ♪
[ Clears throat ]
-♪ There's a birthmark he's insecure about ♪
♪ A birthmark he's insecure ♪
-♪ That dude wears tight collared shirts ♪
♪ I could pick him out in a crowd ♪
Dude, I have to just -- How's Jessica doing?
I know she's doing well, but how is the baby?
-You mean me? I'm doing great. -No. Come on.
The little -- Dude, he's so cute.
-No, but -- I know, man. Nobody's sleeping.
But he's so cute.
-Oh, dude, I remember when you guys FaceTimed us.
We didn't know anything.
You know, we knew it was happening soon,
but we didn't know when.
And, dude, we were just like, "What's up, man?"
Just waterworks, dude. -That's right.
-I was like, "Oh, my gosh." And then he did a bit.
Do you remember? He did his first bit.
-He did.
-He put his face up against that little, like,
plastic thing, and he went like...
and, like, blew.
The old classic bit. He'll do that forever.
-I wish I would have had the ability to record that
so I could see it later.
-It was perfect timing, man. It was so funny.
-Yeah.
-Hey, you have a big weekend coming up.
This Sunday is your 40th birthday.
Happy birthday!
-Thanks for remembering, bro. -Oh, no problem.
Dude, my segment producer told me to bring it up.
-Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I figured. -How does it feel?
I can't -- You don't feel 40 to me.
-I mean, you don't feel 50 to me, and so --
-I'm not 50. -Oh! Oh.
-I'm 41, dude. We're so close in age.
See? You always forget that. -Right.
-I got to say, you've been very busy lately.
You were active in getting people out to vote,
which worked, by the way,
both for the presidential election and the Georgia runoff.
But, man, you crushed it at the inauguration.
How did you -- How did that performance come together?
Who talked to who?
-Well, you know, it was --
I had written a song with Ant Clemons,
an up-and-coming artist,
and we've written a song, "Better Days."
And we were doing these writing sessions
and we just came -- We started writing this song,
and, ironically,
I recorded my final vocal for the song on Election Day
just because I was so nervous about what was going to happen.
I was like -- I had to distract myself.
And I don't know if, like,
somebody who was on my side communicated to them or they --
I'm just gonna go with I think,
you know, I'm pretty sure Joe and Kamala
just wanted us to do it.
And, no, we just heard there was an opportunity
to perform at the inauguration,
and we were super-stoked to do it.
-You don't mess around. And It's not the first time.
You actually performed for President Obama.
What were you doing? What jam were you doing there?
-Obama looks like he wants to get in on that.
-Yeah. -Go back to that picture.
He looks like -- He's like, "I'm just waiting.
I'm waiting for the invitation."
-No, he's a performer. Yeah, he does. He does.
Exactly right. Yeah.
-So, they used to -- I think the Obamas
did a certain theme every summer at The White House with music,
and that year, it was Memphis.
It was Memphis and Stax.
And so they had Booker from Booker T. and the M.G.'s
and they had Steve Cropper,
who was the guitarist on so many of those records.
And Steve Cropper plays
on the famous "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay."
And so I got to come and perform that one at The White House.
It was pretty, pretty, pretty good.
-Yeah. Do you get nervous?
-I was nervous for that one. -Yeah.
-I was nervous for that one
because the president and the First Lady
were both sitting right there.
My wife and my parents were not far away.
-That's a cool moment.
-But, yeah, it's -- I don't know.
It was just -- It felt like --
And, also, like, that's a classic,
you know, so you're like, "Man, don't botch this."
-Don't mess this one up, yeah. -Don't botch this.
-I was keeping up with you, obviously,
during the whole quarantine,
and I just -- I knew, in your head,
you can't stop your brain.
So I was like, "Are you working on something?"
You know, but I always hate to just bother you.
And then you posted some Instagram photo of you
and Timbaland back together working on stuff.
Can we say?
Is there a possibility that there's going to be
a new Justin Timberlake album in the works?
-Yeah, we could say that.
-Alright. Yeah, we just did. We said that.
-There's a possibility. I mean, let's go with "yes."
I mean, I've been in and out of the studio working on stuff,
and I played you a few tunes.
Let's just tell them. I played you a few tunes.
-Let's just say...
Dude, I cannot -- I cannot wait.
How do you have the patience to just not just go,
"Yeah, just listen to all this.
Just get it out."
Like, how -- It's just like you've got to be Zen.
Because they're good songs.
-Well, thanks, man. I don't know.
I mean, listen, I sat on "Mirrors"
for like four or five years and almost got to the point
that I was like, "What was that song we did?"
And -- -Really?
-Yeah. I don't know.
I think I -- I think I just take my time.
Maybe that's my barometer,
that if I still love them as much after time goes by,
then hopefully people will
after they hear them when time goes by.
-You've collaborated with, I think, everyone at this point.
Is there anyone that you haven't worked with yet
that you'd love to get in the studio with?
-Kendrick is on top of my list. Kendrick, Travis Scott.
-Yeah, that's fun. That would be a good mix.
That would fan-- You know -- -I don't know.
Who else? Who else?
-Well, I mean, there's certain -- Some talk-show host
can sing and, you know...
-Oh, really?
-Yeah. I mean -- -Does, uh...
Does Colbert sing? -[ Laughs ]
Hey, Paul McCartney was on our show recently,
and we talked about --
-No, hold on, hold on.
Listen, I'll happily put you on a record
if you want to be on a record.
You want to sing some backgrounds?
-Yeah.
-Okay. Done. -This just happened?
We can't edit this out. -Yeah.
-We have to leave this in the show.
-But I'm going to treat you the same way that I did
right before we did the first Bee Gees sketch we ever did.
-Forget about it. I'm out.
Dude, you're too much of a perfectionist.
Like, I don't know if I could do it.
You're like, "Dude, you're flat again."
-You got the beard on and the chest hair and wigs.
-Dude, we were turned around, and you go,
"Don't mess this up."
And I go, "Yeah, yeah, I'm good."
And you're like, "No, seriously, bro."
And I grabbed you and I was like,
"No, seriously, this is -- Get this right."
This is on me. I'm hosting."
-Oh, I'll never forget it, man.
And we were just -- I go, "Dude, look at us.
Look what we're dressed like. What are you..."
But it was so serious, but, like,
I couldn't look at you, 'cause it was so --
It was so great.
I want to talk about your movie.
Let's talk about that when we come back, alright?
Let's talk about "Palmer."
More with Justin Timberlake when we come back, everybody!