Was This Part of Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me a River' Sung by Someone Else? Here's What One R&B Star Says

Some fans’ favorite part of Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” may not have been sung by the pop star — but by his collaborator on the song.

Marsha Ambrosius, a singer-songwriter credited as backing vocals on a track from Timberlake’s 2002 debut solo album. Justifiedhe repeated in an interview for The TERRELL Show on Thursday, September 26, to sing some of the song’s memorable falsetto moments and outro.

After showing her singing the “Cry me, cry me” ad-libs at the end of the song, Ambrosius, 47, told host Terrell Grice that she’s the “barbecue” — or rather, the one singing that particular part of the song, instead of Timberlake , 43.

Justin Timberlake & Jimmy Fallon Announce New ‘You’ll Be There’ Christmas Song: ‘It’s About a Bromance’

Justin Timberlake performs during the ‘Forget Tomorrow World Tour’ at Madison Square Garden on June 25, 2024.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

“Apparently, according to Twitter, it was, ‘Oh, did you hear that falsetto? He can absolutely come to the grill.’ But years later, they’ll find out that part was actually me,” she said. “And this isn’t to overshadow the rest of the song… He’s from Memphis. He can still come.”

“But, you know, Twitter is relentless. I said, ‘Okay.’ ‘She was doing the barbecue part?’ I’m the barbecue sauce in the song,” added the musician.

Ambrosius — a member of the R&B duo Floetry, who has worked with artists including Michael Jackson on his song “Butterflies” — then demonstrated singing the song’s pre-chorus (“You don’t have to say / What you did / I already know / I found out from”), before than she looked at Grice when she got to the word “he”.

“I brought the barbecue sauce,” she said later.

A representative for Timberlake did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Never miss a story — subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Justin Timberlake and Timbaland perform on the album in 2006 in New York. L. Busacca/WireImage Justin Timberlake wrote ‘Cry Me a River’ breakup song at 2:00 a.m.: ‘I’ve Been Scorned’

While Ambrosius’ latest “Cry Me a River” comments are gaining traction after being shared by The Shade Room, this wasn’t the first time she’s been open about her work on the Timbaland-produced single.

As she said Los Angeles Times In 2014, when “Cry Me a River” was being recorded, the super-producer told her that the song “had a couple of missing elements that he thought I could fine-tune.”

“I hear that it’s a phenomenal song and at the time it didn’t have a hook until the end [or] end,” she said at the time. “I went into the booth and matched my vocals with Justin’s and did it a few times to get the feel, which is why hardly anyone knows I’m in the song because we sound the same. I sang that ‘You don’t have to say what you did’ [line]made an outro. I was playing when I did it and Timbaland kept it. I knew it was a great song in the studio. I didn’t know it was going to be that song.”

Ambrosius also previously shared a video on Twitter (now X) in 2020, when she sang the final part of the song for fans, many of whom responded, noting that they had “no idea” it was her vocals.

The PEOPLE Puzzler has arrived! How fast can you solve it? Play now!

In 2022, Timbaland spoke to PEOPLE about legacy Justified and “Cry Me a River,” when he explained that he and Timberlake were “already on the beat” when they made the song.

“By then I was already in motion,” he said of the process. “I knew the song was already playing, and when he heard it, it would light a fire in him. He had just come from a concert, he was already in that mood of anxiety, ready to do something.”

“We entered the room,” he added. “He heard it. It just hit him. It was crazy.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education