When most people visit Memphis and drop into BB King’s on Beale Street, they wind up leaving with a smile and the beginnings of a hangover. But Wednesday night (August 21), a tiny group of lucky travelers left with the memory of a lifetime, as pop superstar Justin Timberlake crashed the stage to sing Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey.”
Captured for posterity in a series of Instagram videos, the Memphis native can be seen casually sauntering up to the stage at the house band’s urging, joining for an impromptu jam that caught the crowd of about 20 patrons completely off guard.
With his drink firmly in hand (it doesn’t look like whiskey, sorry folks) and some camoflauge on his back, Timberlake locked in to reprise his now-iconic duet with Stapleton from the 2015 CMA Awards. Even without warming up, his voice is butter smooth and he clearly owns the stage.
At one point, the band drops out so Timberlake can stretch his lungs on the country-blues crossover — then turns maestro, jumping up and down to reenergize the combo back to full strength. After a few minutes of uninterupted bliss, the moment passes just as easily as it began, with Timberlake leaving the stage and fading back into the Memphis night. But he left a few lucky fans with a story no one would ever believe — if it weren’t caught on video, that is.
Check out clips from the performance below:
