Justin Timberlake has revealed that David Bowie was an influence on his 2006 album ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds’.
A decade on from its release, Timberlake has given a detailed account of the making of his first No. 1 solo album.
The star credited Bowie as an inspiration on the record’s hit single ‘SexyBack’, saying that he was listening to the late musician constantly before he wrote it.
“I was listening to a lot of [David] Bowie at that time—Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs—and I played “Rebel Rebel” over and over again, like, 15 times the day before I wrote anything for ‘SexyBack’,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
He added: “We were interested in taking those new-wave synth sounds that were made popular by bands like Tears for Fears and the Human League and seeing how much R&B we could add to that sound. We wanted to take those synth sounds and make them arpeggiated, almost like what’s very common with EDM now.”
Last week, Timberlake was criticised on Twitter for his response to Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams’s acceptance speech at the BET Awards, in which the actor spoke out about racism and cultural appropriation.
Following the speech, Timberlake tweeted: “@iJesseWilliams tho… #Inspired #BET2016”, to which some followers took offence. One user wrote: “@jtimberlake @iJesseWilliams Did you like the part when Jesse talked about white people stealing from us? That should resonate with you.”
Timberlake responded to one critic by writing: “Oh, you sweet soul. The more you realize that we are the same, the more we can have a conversation. Bye.” He later apologised and said “I really do feel that we are all one… A human race.”