Tye Tribbett sang Justin Timberlake’s ‘Cry Me A River,’ and only made $2K

Gospel giant Tye Tribbett is behind one of the biggest pop singles of the early 2000s, and he only had a fancy dinner to show for it.

Tribbett was recently featured on the latest episode of Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” with Kel Mitchell. On the show, Tribbett spoke about creating Justin Timberlake‘s remake of “Cry Me A River.” The 2002 single peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts and spent 20 weeks among the hottest songs in the country. “Cry Me A River,” which has over half a billion views on YouTube uploaded seven years after the song came out, remains one of Timberlake’s most popular songs in his career.

To prove he was behind the record, Sharpe made Tribbett walk over to a keyboard and play the song. Tribbett joked and said he hadn’t play it since he made it over 20 years ago. Sharpe then asked how much is he still making from the hit.

“That was a hit song,” Sharpe said. “I know they broke bread with you on that one, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, we had dinner,” Tribbett said. “I didn’t know the business then. I was working with Timbaland, and Timbaland’s still my dude ’till this day. So, he cut me a check, I took that $2,000, I split it up between everybody.”

Sharpe began to count how many people were with Tribbett, to which Tribbett responded with another joke.

“Yeah,” he said before cracking a big smile. “I came away with about $75. I didn’t know the business then, and I’m not upset about any of that. It’s all good. It’s what it is.”

. @jtimberlake’s “Cry Me A River” Was Created By @TyeTribbett & Tye Was Only Paid $2K

"I didn't know the business then. I was working with Timberland and Timberland is still my dude til this day. He cut me a check. I took that $2k i split it up between everybody." pic.twitter.com/6SJ5bLviBf

— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) May 18, 2024