Justin Timberlake releases 'Cry Me a River' after Britney Spears split

Justin Timberlake released "Cry Me a River" in November 2002 as a single from his debut solo album, Justified. He had recently left the boy band NSYNC to launch a solo career, and the song was among his first major releases on his own.

The track was co-written with producers Timbaland and Scott Storch. Its lyrics describe a bitter ending to a relationship and a refusal to take back a former partner. Timberlake had split from singer Britney Spears earlier that year, and listeners and the media quickly assumed the song was about her.

That reading was reinforced by the music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, which featured a woman resembling Spears. The video was widely discussed and became a defining pop moment of the early 2000s.

The single was a commercial success and reached the top five of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It helped establish Timberlake as a credible solo artist, and it later earned him a Grammy Award. The song's supposed meaning has been debated ever since, which is why his later comments on other songs are often read against it.