Justin Timberlake has been in show business for quite some time. He started as a young boy in the Mickey Mouse Club together with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Ryan Gosling. In the 90s, he hit it big with his boyband *NSYNC. With hits like "Bye, bye, bye", "I want you back" and "Tearin up my heart", the five studs won the world over topping the charts. In 2002, he successfully went solo. The track "Sexyback" particularly made him extremely popular. Meanwhile, he's released three solo albums and branched out into film with his debuts as an actor in "The social network" and "Alpha dog".

If there's one thing about Justin, you can trust he has always been in the spotlight. Before his marriage to Jessica Biel in 2012, he had relationships with celebrity personalities like Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz. He doesn't leave faithful fans hanging either. It was no secret that of the five *NSYNC boys, he was by far the most popular. His style definitely changed over the years. He went from that innocent boyband look to a more macho image, sporting tatts up and down his body. The tatts each symbolize a significant aspect of Justin's life.

Religion

Tattooed on Justin's left arm is a prominent image of a cross. Justin is from Memphis, a town in what is known as the Bible Belt in the USA, a circuit of southern states where relgion plays a major role and the values of church and prayer are preeminent. His grandfather was a pastor there and his father was a director of the church choir. So it's no wonder that religion and spirituality are majorly important to Justin.

In 2007, Britney Spears got a very similar tattoo. Gossip got around that this meant the couple was getting back together, but Justin dismissed such rumors and appeared more and more in public with his current wife, actress Jessica Biel.

Guardian Angel

The most remarkable tattoo is on Justin's back. It shows an angel bearing the initials of his mother. His mother has always been his biggest supporter and has accompanied him on many occasions to awards ceremonies. Above the angel, there is the word "Guardian". That refers to his sister who died shortly after she was born. He sees her as his guardian angel. The whole tatt appears on a sort of heavenly, angelic backdrop.

*NSYNC

Many of Justins tattoos refer to his greatest passion: his music. Just like the other members of *NSYNC, he got a flaming tattoo on his right ankle, which was a logo to represent the success years with the band. Right underneath that are red velvet ropes, like the ones you see on the red carpet, which were done to symbolize the popularity of the group. Towards the front, his tatt shows his initials J.R.T. which stands for Justin Randall Timberlake.

He also has a tatt of a marionette. Fans will surely remember when the fellas were acting like puppets at the time when they put out videos of "Bye bye bye" and "It's gotta be me."

Tatted on his left ankle is a Chinese symbol for "music".

Alpha dog

Apart from these tattoos, Justin had fake tatts for a while when he acted in the film "Alpha Dog". He played a nefarious gang member. The temporary tattoos were put on by famous SFX artist Christien Tinsley (read more about it on the TattooForAWeek blog). The Tinsley tatts showed the year 1976 on his chest, a large tattoo of the holy virgin Mary on his arm, and a number of Chinese symbols. One of the latter needed to be redone. Tinsley mistakenly designed a tatt that said "ice skating" on Justin's body, which didn't seem very macho for a gang member...

And one more?

Justin's mother is not much of a fan of tattoos. Years ago, she allowed him to get one more, the one of his future wife. With the arrival of his son Silas this week, it will perhaps be a tough choice to make!

Check out our video on Justin Timberlake's tattoos!

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