The Tennessee native, 34, became the youngest inductee into the Hall of Fame during a ceremony at The Cannon Center of Performing Arts in front of around 2,000 people.

His good friend and frequent collaborator, comedian Jimmy Fallon, was on hand to introduce Justin before he accepted the honour, with the TV talk show host even dubbing himself "Mrs. Justin Timberlake", as the singer's wife Jessica Biel laughed in the audience.

After Jimmy's introduction, Justin took the stage and told the crowd, "This is the f**king coolest thing that has ever happened to me."

"The Grammys are political. The Emmys are political. Memphis is not political. And don't get me started on Hollywood," Justin said. "Memphis is the global capital of soul, and that soul is not just in the music, it's in the people.

"When people ask me where I'm from I say, 'Memphis.' Not where do you live right now, but where are you from. My favorite part about this city is we don't apologise for who we are, and that's who this city has taught me to be."

The Mirrors singer even got choked up at various points throughout his nearly 30-minute long speech filled with humour and heart, and gave a loving shout out to Jessica as she proudly watched on from the front row.

"I want to thank my beautiful, loving and incredibly understanding of her husband's shortcomings wife, Jessica," Justin said before tearing up. "She is a rock and she is tough as nails, so she's basically a Memphian. Baby, I love you more than I could put into words and more than any song I could ever write."

Justin later took to the stage to sing a cover of Otis Redding's Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay with fellow Hall of Fame inductee Sam Moore of Sam & Dave.

In addition to Timberlake and Moore, other inductees included blues singer Alberta Hunter, Booker T & the MGs drummer Al Jackson, Jr., and guitarist Scotty Moore, who was inducted into the Hall by Keith Richards.