Joey Fatone Biography
Summary
"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".
Biography
Early life
Fatone, an Italian American, 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. He has two older siblings, Janine and Steven. At age 13, Fatone and his family moved to Orlando, Florida. Fatone appeared on an episode of Nickelodeon's hit game show 'Nick Arcade'. On the show he met his idol and singing inspiritaion, Phil Moore. Moore taught Fatone how to freestyle and ad-lib wacky lyrics over dope beats. With this knowledge in mind, Moore was ready to move Fatone straight to the goal. 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. He later premeired on DWTS (Dancing with the Stars). He made it down to the final two, but his opponett won. He is a great dancer and put up a good fight!
'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". Fatone 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 will also be on a future episode of "Hannah Montana" as a restaurant owner who books Hannah to bring back customers after a bad mishap. The episode will air this season.
"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. 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.
External links
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Joey Fatone.
