Justin Timberlake Nearly Had Duet With Michael Jackson a Decade Ago

"It was the first song I cut by myself and then brought to the guys and included them," Timberlake says.

"Gone" went on to be a hit single (it peaked at No. 11 in the Hot 100) and was nominated for a Grammy (Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals). However, what happened next left Timberlake wishing he'd waited a little longer to hear back from Jackson.

MJ called him later and said he wanted to make "Gone" into a duet between them. Timberlake had to break the bad news -- the song was already cut as an *NSYNC record.

"I'm on the phone literally punching myself in the face," he says.

Timberlake proposed billing the track as a feature song (as *NSYNC featuring Michael Jackson or vice-versa) but the King of Pop insisted on a true duet between them.

"I never told anybody that Michael story," says Timberlake, closing the story with a glimmer in his eye.

The video is a snippet from an upcoming episode of "Oprah's Master Class" centered around Timberlake, which airs Sunday, May 11 at 10 p.m. ET on OWN.