Joey Fatone
Born on January 28th, 1977, Joey Fatone spent the first 12 years of his life growing up in Brooklyn, New York, before moving with his family to Orlando, Florida at the age of 13. After finishing high school, Fatone began his stage career with a role “Beetlejuice’s Grave Yard Revue” while working at Universal Studios.
It was during this stint at Universal that Fatone met Jennifer McGill, a cast member for the Mickey Mouse Club, who introduced Fatone to another cast mate, JC Chasez. Although he also later became friends with another Universal Studios employee, Chris Kirkpatrick, the three went their separate ways and wouldn’t see each other again until years later.
After reuniting by chance at a nightclub, Fatone, Chasez and Kirkpatrick formed their own vocal group, and in 1995 were signed by Jive records to make a professional album. They were joined by another former Mickey Mouse Club cast member, Justin Timberlake, and finally Timberlake’s friend Lance Bass. Under the group’s name N’Sync, Fatone toured Germany in 1996 before finally breaking into the American market in 1998.
In 2000, N’ Sync released No Strings Attached, which became fastest-selling album of all time in America, followed by a third album, Celebrity, in 2001. In 2002, N’Sync decided to take an extended break, which allowed Fatone to pursue other interests in the meantime.
During 2002, Fatone appeared as a cast member in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and also had a part in The Cooler with Alec Baldwin. He also had an extended run as Seymour in the Broadway version of Little Shop of Horrors, and took the role of Mark in Broadway’s Rent.
Fatone frequently works with former N’Sync bandmate Lance Bass on media-related projects, and the two currently have a sitcom pilot in the works that centers on the two men as roommates: one gay and one straight, dealing with the funny situations that might arise from such a pairing. The two have also lent their voices to previous episodes of Disney’s animated show Kim Possible, as well as the cartoon Robot Chicken.
While there are rumors that Fatone once dated Joanie Laurer, a professional wrestler, the pair has vehemently denied the accusations. On September 9th, 2004, Fatone married his long-time girlfriend Kelly Baldwin, with whom he has a daughter named Briahna. In 2007, Fatone became a participant in Season 4 of the reality show Dancing with the Stars, competing with professional dance partner Kym Johnson.
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