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He's had an A-List love life, a glamorous lifestyle and he... plays golf. Ok, he might not be the tinted-specs-and-turtlenecks wearing young trendsetter of the late 90s anymore but JT has managed a rare accomplishment, in becoming a critically-acclaimed and well-respected artist from a 90s pop background.

But he's been a bit quiet for over two years, now.

It was the genesis of many a 90s US pop sensation - but only a few (JT, Britney, Christina) are still going two decades later. As ol' Trousersnake debuts his new single (and Radio 1 Track Of The Day) 'Can't Stop The Feeling' we have a quick look back on his evolution from the one in the turtleneck in NSYNC to the sharp-suited pop titan he is today.

In the mid-90s pop was big business. NSYNC were put together by Lou Perlman, the executive behind the Backstreet Boys and were a carefully planned pop product. Formed in the US, they went to Sweden to work with legendary pop writer Max Martin on their first album, before being shipped to Germany to test out their potential.

At the time, the German market was considered the litmus test for boybands; if a group was well-received there, they'd go global. A lot of boybands consequently released their first (and maybe only) single from Berlin.

Which was how young Timberlake found himself there, in 1996, promoting 'I Want You Back.' A melodramatic pop banger, it was an instant classic.

Litmus test passed, the stage was lit.

The real turning point on the album, though, was its last single. 'Girlfriend' was originally slated for release in its raw form, as a perfectly good pop song. Just before the release, though, it received a surprise remix - ultra-cool (and at the time, still quite underground) R&B producers The Neptunes produced a version, adding two verses from rapper Nelly.

The result was an incredible, tight, romantic track virtually engineered to be the sound of summer. NSYNC found themselves an unlikely number one in R&B charts and something extremely important changed...

In 2002, just a year after the release (and success) of 'Celebrity,' Justin reappeared solo. It seemed an odd move - sure, he'd dated Britney and was a heartthrob in the band but why leave, at what seemed like a peak of their success?

The band announced a hiatus and 'Like I Love You' dropped - an R&B song heavily reliant on falsetto, with a sound so distinctive that to some it came off as just plain weird.

But the song stood out - and was successful. It debuted at Number Two in the Official UK Charts - people could mock it but the Neptunes-produced track had an irresistible appeal.

A mostly Neptunes-produced album, Justified, followed, to further commercial and critical success. Justin had pulled it off - using the contacts in the R&B world working with the Neptunes had opened the door to, he even got in his first Timbaland collaboration and crafted a well-received pop record, each subsequent single doing as well as the first.

'Cry Me A River,' the Timbaland-produced, (allegedly) thinly-veiled critique of Justin's relationship with Britney Spears, became the biggest hit. Sounding fresh, emotive and convincingly mean it made a perfect heartbreak song for anyone done wrong. If 'Like I Love You' was a little weird, this was an unashamedly, unrestrainedly huge pop tune, with all the production excellence that Timbaland brings.

Which made things a little confusing when he reappeared with squelch-pop, dirty, bedroom-voice, bedspring-beat 'Sexyback.' The aural equivalent of the secret acknowledgement that sex is really quite weird, it creates an immersive, falling-over-itself, going-slightly-too-fast, wobbly-bass, leg-stuck-in-jeans stumble to the mattress of 'Futuresex/Lovesounds', Timberlake's indisputably superb second solo album. The track shot straight to the crotch and Justin's first ever UK No.1.

From the crunch-squeal of the first single to the stunning, rippling synth work on 'My Love' and the heady, urgent whine of 'Lovestoned', the singles were consistently commercially successful and critically praised - Justin's presence on the album as auteur was clear; after this, you had to take him seriously.

After 'Futuresex/Lovesounds' JT was in a very different place - a relentlessly cool album campaign, putting the singer in sharp suits and referencing James Bond had re-styled him from a hoodie-wearing, post-boyband not-sure-if-trying-to-be-bad-boy to a bona fide romantic action hero.

Developing a strong sense of style, alongside the distinct artistic direction of the Timbaland-led album gave Justin a lot of new credibility. Pop artists can struggle to create a strongly distinctive style, to give a thematic reason to why you'd get them on your track. After 'Futuresex/Lovesounds' Justin's collaborations skyrocketed - he became a go-to sharp, fashionable guy to feature.

Somewhere around everyone having a strong concept of who you are, as an artist, you get certain rights to being allowed to fully explore that identity. Which sometimes means disappearing into a studio and never quite emerging with a finished product and sometimes means the ultimate accolade, in terms of record labels letting you do whatever you want: the double album.

'The 20/20 Experience' is two albums, both released in 2013 and intended to sit together as a single work. Lead single 'Suit and Tie' absolutely underlined JT's stylistic direction and the way it linked to his image. A classy, smooth R&B track absolutely made for cruising through outrageously lavish environments in your sharpest clothes,it established Justin as glamourous and aspirational.

It took second single 'Mirrors' for Justin to hit No.1 in the Official Chart, generating a massive hit across Europe. 'The 20/20 Experience' turned into a global tour, with the singles still receiving airplay across the world - JT is officially one of the biggest artists in the world and 20 years into his career, still going strong.