Justin Timberlake Pays Tribute After Backup Singer Nicole Hurst Dies At 38

Nicole Hurst smiling during an interview with the local news in Houston.

Nicole Hurst, a backup singer with a powerful voice who worked with a ton of famous musicians including Kelly Clarkson and Bruno Mars recently passed away after an extended battle with cancer. She was just thirty-eight years old, and in the time since her passing, the tributes from those touched by her life have started to pour in. One of those is from Justin Timberlake. The pop star worked with Hurst extensively during his career and featured her prominently in many of his concerts. He paid tribute to her in a very touching post earlier this week.

His remembrance includes a ton of great pictures and videos, including a snippet of the star singing Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor” during one of Justin Timberlake’s concerts. It also features a really touching message in which the singer calls Hurst a “beautiful soul” and a “constant source of joy and positivity.” You can look at the full post below…

A photo posted by on

Nicole Hurst was an extremely successful back-up singer in 2013, ready for a tour with Timberlake and Jay-Z when she was unexpectedly diagnosed with breast cancer. She did four months of chemo and had a mastectomy, eventually finding herself in remission. Her career continued to blossom after that, performing with a ton of additional stars including Janet Jackson and Alicia Keys. She also sang at many high profile events including the Oscars, the Grammys and the Super Bowl Half-Time Show.

Unfortunately, her cancer returned in 2019 and spread to her brain. Hurst kept fighting for two years, undergoing numerous treatments. She touched on her battle in an extremely thoughtful Instagram post later that year that outlined all she was going through and her attitude toward life. She memorably ended it on this beautiful note…

I hope this post will inspire you to live courageously in your present moment and recognize that with its many ups and downs, life is still beautiful.

By all accounts, Nicole Hurst was a great person who brought a lot of light into the world. She seems to have made a huge impact on those who knew her well, and it’s clear from Justin Timberlake’s Instagram post how much he’s going to miss the singer and her beautiful voice. You can check that voice out in the video below, which features her singing Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” at a Kelly Clarkson concert back in 2015.

Our thoughts go out to everyone who was touched by Nicole Hurst’s life. She will be missed and remembered very fondly. Fortunately, there are plenty of videos of her doing what she does best available.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.