Joey Fatone

Joey Fatone
Birth name	Joseph Anthony Fatone Jr.
Born	January 28 1977 (1977-01-28) (age 31) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Origin	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Genre(s)	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, Actor, Television personality
Instrument(s)	Singing
Years active	1995-present
Associated acts	'N Sync

Joseph Anthony Fatone, Jr. (born January 28, 1977) is an American singer, actor and television personality. He is best known as a member of the American pop group, 'N Sync, in which he sang baritone. In 2007, he came in second place on the ABC reality show Dancing With The Stars. He is also the host of the American and Australian versions of The Singing Bee.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 'N Sync 1.3 Acting career 1.4 Dancing with the Stars 1.5 Personal life 2 References 3 External links

Biography

Early life

Fatone, an Italian American,^[1] was born in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, the son of Phyllis and Joseph Anthony Fatone, Sr., who was an actor and musician.^[2] He has two older siblings, Janine and Steven. At age 13, Fatone and his family moved to Orlando, Florida. There, Fatone attended and graduated from Dr. Phillips High School. Reportedly, at his graduation, Fatone sang a rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, celebrated as a precursor to his future success. After high school, Fatone worked as a performer at Universal Studios in Orlando, where he played "Wolfie" in "Beetlejuice's GraveYard Revue". While working at Universal, Fatone befriended Mickey Mouse Club cast member Jennifer McGill, who introduced him to her castmate, JC Chasez. Fatone also became friends with fellow Universal employee Chris Kirkpatrick. Years later, Chasez and Kirkpatrick would bump into Fatone dancing at a nightclub, and ask him to join their vocal group.

'N Sync

Main article: 'N Sync

In 1995, Fatone joined Mickey Mouse Club alumni JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake, along with Chris Kirkpatrick, in N Sync. The band originally included Jason Watkins, who Fatone recruited for the group after he befriended him at Dr. Phillips. However, Watkins dropped out just weeks before the group's first showcase, which prompted Timberlake to recruit Lance Bass as the group's bass singer. 'N Sync toured Germany throughout 1996, before hitting it big in the States two years later. In 2000, the group released the fastest-selling record of all time, No Strings Attached, and in 2001, he followed it up with their Celebrity album, which scored the second highest first-week album sales ever.

Acting career

Fatone has had a dramatic run on Broadway. He played Mark in Rent. He went on to play Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, staying with the show until its run ended several months later. In 2001, Fatone co-starred with bandmate Lance Bass in the Miramax film On the Line, and also did voice work with Bass on the same episodes of Disney's Kim Possible and Adult Swim's Robot Chicken. He also performed in the 2002 dramatic comedy motion picture My Big Fat Greek Wedding as Toula's cousin, and acted in the critically acclaimed movie The Cooler. He has had minor roles in the experimental film, Red Riding Hood, and in Homie Spumoni, alongside Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Fatone is currently the host of NBC's The Singing Bee as well as the Australian version of the show. On August 21, 2007, it was announced that Fatone, along with Lisa Rinna, will be replacing Joan Rivers and Melissa Rivers as hosts of TV Guide's red carpet pre-shows for the 2007-2008 season. Fatone was also in an episode of Hannah Montana as a restaurant owner who books Hannah to bring back customers after a bad mishap, set episode will air this season. Nov 30, 2007: Participated in the taping of the 2007 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade inside the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Dancing with the Stars

On February 20, 2007, the ABC television network announced that Fatone would participate in season 4 of the American version of Dancing with the Stars, which debuted March 19, 2007.^[3] He competed with professional partner Kym Johnson. The couple received a score of 24 out of 30 for their Cha Cha, and were the highest-scoring couple during the first week of the season. In the second round of competition, Joey and his partner received a score of 24 out of 30 once more for the Quickstep, for a two-week total of 48 out of 60. On the fourth week, the dance team received the first 10 of the season giving them a total score of 28 out of 30. He received a perfect score of 60 in the semi-finals along with Laila Ali. Joey and his partner, Kym, competed against Laila and her partner Maksim, and Apolo Ohno with his partner Julianne Hough in the finale. They received a score of 56 out of 60 in the finals and a perfect 30 for their freestyle routine. Also on the final results show, he did the exact same tango he did earlier in the season, and scored a perfect 30. Joey ultimately placed second, behind Ohno, in the finale of Dancing with the Stars on May 22, 2007. After the completion of Dancing with the Stars, Joey and partner Kym celebrated by going on the inaugural Mediterranean cruise for the Disney Cruise Line. The two performed for the ship's guests on June 2, 2007 and the performance can be watched here.

Personal life

During his time in 'N Sync, Fatone was rumored to have dated retired professional wrestler Joanie Laurer. However, Fatone denied this rumor on the May 24, 2007 broadcast of The Howard Stern Radio Show. Fatone married his long-time girlfriend, Kelly Baldwin, on September 9, 2004 at Oheka Castle in Long Island, New York. All of Fatone's bandmates attended the wedding. Fatone and his wife have a daughter together named Briahna, who was born on March 21, 2001. Lance Bass is Briahna's godfather. According to a recent appearance on MTV Cribs, Joey owns one of the actual KITT cars used on the series Knight Rider, although it may be a replica, created by George Barris.^[4]

References

External links

Official

• Joey Fatone at MySpace

Biographical

• Joey Fatone at the Internet Movie Database
• Joey Fatone at the Internet Broadway Database
• Joey Fatone at TVGuide.com

This box:  •  • edit 'N Sync
Lance Bass • JC Chasez • Joey Fatone • Chris Kirkpatrick • Justin Timberlake
Discography
Studio Albums: *NSYNC • No Strings Attached • Celebrity
Other Albums: Home for Christmas • The Winter Album
Compilations: Greatest Hits
Singles: "I Want You Back" • "Tearin' Up My Heart" • "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You" • "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" • "I Drive Myself Crazy" • "Music of My Heart" • "Bye Bye Bye" • "It's Gonna Be Me" • "This I Promise You" • "Pop" • "Gone" • "Girlfriend"
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