Justin Timberlake and More '90s Pop Stars: Where Are They Now?
May 8, 2012 — -- intro: Those bright blue eyes and tight blonde curls may have gotten him on many a Tiger Beat cover, but when Justin Timberlake flips through his *NSYNC scrapbook (let's just assume he has one), one word comes to mind: Moron.
"There were many moments in my teenage years where I succumbed to, um, the weirdness of the group I was in," Timberlake told Details magazine about his appearance during the boy band's late 1990s heyday. "'And in trying to conform -- we're marionettes -- I ended up looking like a moron."
The 31-year-old actor and singer now has an aversion to hair gel, and presumably, the "Bye Bye Bye" dance. He's not the only '90s pop star who's changed dramatically since Y2K:
quicklist: 1title: Britney Spearstext: Spears went from school girl to bad girl to mommy-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown in what felt like a couple of minutes. When she shaved her head bald in 2007 and brandished an umbrella at baffled photographers, it seemed all but certain that the blonde, bubblegum pop queen was a goner. Not so -- a break from the music industry and the introduction to a new manager-turned- fiance, Jason Trawick, put Spears, now 30, back on track. media: 16279608
quicklist: 2title: Nick Lacheytext: 98 Degrees put Lachey on the map, an ill-fated marriage and reality TV show kept him there. Even now, nearly seven years after their divorce, it's hard to think of Lachey without remembering his Chicken of the Sea confused ex-wife and "Newlyweds" co-star, Jessica Simpson. The 38-year-old Lachey has backburnered his singing career in favor of TV hosting gigs (he fronted NBC's "The Sing-Off") and being a family man. He and wife Vanessa Minnillo announced in March that they're expecting their first child. media: 16279695
quicklist: 3title: Christina Aguileratext: The "Genie in a Bottle" singer underwent her own transformation after climbing up the Billboard charts. Aguilera shed her pop vixen image for her fourth studio album, 2002's "Stripped," and displayed a fuller figure and a whole lot of confidence in the video for the album's most popular single, "Beautiful." Aguilera's dealt with criticism about her body ever since, but with a reputation for making hits and now cultivating hitmakers as a judge on "The Voice," that kind of noise probably doesn't matter much to her. media: 16279621
quicklist: 4title: Nick Cartertext: Like Lachey and Timberlake, Carter had to have gone through a Costco-size tub of Dep during the '90s. His singing career, like the popularity of piecey, spiked hair on men, has since faltered -- at least in the U.S. In Japan, Carter's still big. His 2011 solo album "I'm Taking Off" sold more than 20,000 copies there. Carter, now 32, has also had a handful of acting gigs, appearing on "8 Simple Rules" and the E! reality show about his family, "House of Carters."media: 16279766
