Background Vocalist Says They Sang Key Parts on Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me a River'

A background vocalist is claiming credit for singing a heavily praised portion of Justin Timberlake‘s Grammy winning song “Cry Me a River.”

Released in 2002, the song helped transform Justin from a member of *NSYNC to a certified solo star. In 2004, it won him a Grammy in the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance category.

A fan-favorite part of the song is the outro, where Justin seemingly showed off his impressive falsetto, hitting very high notes while repeating the line, “cry me, cry me.”

However, according to Marsha Ambrosius, that’s actually her on the track.

Keep reading to find out more…

Marsha, who is a Grammy nominated singer and songwriter, is credited on the song as a background vocalist.

During a recent interview on The TERRELL Show, she revisited that part of the song, proclaiming that she was “the barbecue.”

What does that even mean? She explained: “Apparently, according to Twitter, that was, ‘Oh, did you hear that falsetto? He can absolutely come to the barbecue.’ But years later, they will find out that that part was actually me,” Marsha said. “And this is not to shade the rest of the song. Justin Timberlake can… He’s from Memphis. He can still come.”

She recalled people on Twitter freaking out to realize that “she did the barbecue part.”

“It was barbecue sauce that I brought,” she added, after singing another part of the song during the interview.

Marsha noted that she “did not have a physical Grammy” herself, saying, “I kind of want one.”

Back in 2014, Marsha also spoke about recording the song with Timbaland during an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“I went into the booth, matched my vocal with Justin’s and did it a couple of times to get the feel, which is why barely anyone knows I’m on the song because we sound the same. I sang that ‘You don’t have to say, what you did’ [line], did the 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 would be that song.”

If you forgot, “Cry Me a River” sparked some controversy last year after Justin performed it during a show. Find out why.