Brothers from another mother! Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake reflected on their nearly 20-year friendship, which all started at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I remember being backstage with you at the VMAs when we shared dressing rooms kind of. We were almost connected,” the talk show host, 45, told Timberlake, 39, on the Tuesday, April 7, episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I remember I was pacing downstairs and I think I was dressed as a superhero or something. I was, like pacing, and I’m like, ‘I’m so nervous. I hope this hosting thing goes well because you know, if I host this and that’s my career.’ And you go, ‘Yeah well, this is my first solo thing ever, so…'”
The night was a big milestone for both pals with Fallon hosting the ceremony for the first time and Timberlake giving his first solo performance since parting ways with ‘NSync. The Grammy winner performed his single “Like I Love you,” which had not been released at the time.
“No one even heard what you sounded like as a solo artist,” Fallon recalled.
Timberlake replied, “In retrospect, maybe not the greatest decision. Maybe I should have put the song out first so people knew who I was.”
The “Can’t Stop the Feeling” singer added that the duo —who have become known for their comedic bits — hit it off immediately over their similar sense of humor.
“I remember we were both nervous. But the funny thing about our friendship even when it first started is that … nothing was that serious,” Timberlake said.”We kind of like, we started doing bits back and forth. You know, and that’s all we do now.”
Over the years, the twosome have collaborated on multiple sketches, including their first “History of Rap” medley in 2010 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and funny music videos such as “D–k in a Box” on Saturday Night Live in 2006.
Most recently, the pals joked about the coronavirus quarantine in a music video titled, “Quarantine Remix” on Tuesday, April 7. Timberlake and Fallon filmed the video in their separate homes and used household objects to create a beat, which was then edited together to create the song.
