Long before the mega-popular boy band *NSYNC put Joey Fatone’s winsome mug on hordes of magazine covers, Brooklyn-born Joey Fatone had music on his mind. While still in high school, the cheerful baritone and three pals formed The Big Guys, an a cappella group that once serenaded Miss Florida on the TV series
Teen Talk. He met future band mate Chris Kirkpatrick while performing in Universal Studios Florida’s "Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue.” The two theme-park performers linked up with handsome crooners J.C. Chavez and Justin Timberlake, and soon enough their 1998 self-titled debut was paving the way for them to become one of the biggest-selling and record-smashing music acts of its time. In the years since the group’s final 2002 tour, Fatone has done anything but rest on his laurels. He’s transferred his talents to the silver screen, appearing in the 2002 hit
My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the acclaimed 2003 film
The Cooler. He debuted on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning
Rent, and later stretched his vocal chords as a lead in a revival of
Little Shop of Horrors. Most recently, he’s reacquainted himself with a new generation of cooing fans, cha-chaing his way into a second-place finish on 2007 edition of ABC’s
Dancing with the Stars. His success on the dance floor led NBC to hire the personable songster as the host for their karaoke game show
Singing Bee. Off-screen, his personal life has been equally blessed. He married his high-school sweetheart, Kelly Baldwin, in 2004; their daughter Brianna served as flower girl.
Joey Fatone Fast Facts:
- His dad, Joe Sr., sang with the Orions, a Brooklyn-based doo-wop group.
- Family moved to Florida when he was 13; he landed a job as the Wolfman in a Universal Studios' theme park musical soon after.
- First leading film role was alongside fellow *NSYNCer Lance Bass in 2001's On the Line.
- Hadn't danced in five years prior to joining Dancing with the Stars for its fourth season.
- Joey Fatone Relationships:
- Brianna - Daughter
- Janine Fatone - Sister
- Joe Fatone - Father
- Kelly Baldwin - Wife
- Phyllis Fatone - Mother
- Steven Fatone - Brother
