Justin Bieber

Justin Drew Bieber, born March 1, 1994, is a Canadian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Discovered at age 13 by talent manager Scooter Braun after he had watched Bieber’s YouTube cover song videos, Bieber was signed to RBMG Records in 2008. With Bieber’s debut EP My World, released in late 2009, Bieber became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut record chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

At 16 years old, Bieber released his debut studio album My World 2.0 (2010), which contained the hit single “Baby”. The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart in 47 years. Bieber had quickly established himself as a teen idol. Following his debut album and promotional tours, he released his 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, which was a box office success. Bieber’s next album, Under the Mistletoe (2011), became the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. In the years following the release of Believe (2012), Bieber faced several controversies for his rebellious nature, and his sound transitioned into R&B and hip hop.

Where Are Ü Now, a collaboration with Skrillex and Diplo released in 2015, marked a new era of Bieber’s career, as he transitioned into EDM. The song earned him a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. In late 2015, Bieber’s fourth studio album Purpose was released, which became his most commercially successful album. It produced three Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: “What Do You Mean?”, “Sorry”, and “Love Yourself”. After the release of Purpose, Bieber had featured on several successful collaborations, including “Cold Water”, “Let Me Love You”, “Despacito (Remix)”, “I’m the One”, “I Don’t Care” and “10,000 Hours”, all of which went top five in the US. After taking some time off to focus on his marriage to Hailey Baldwin, as well as facing complications with Lyme disease, Bieber released his fifth studio album, Changes. It became his seventh chart-topper in the US, making him, at the age of 25, the youngest solo artist to achieve seven number-one albums in the US.

With sales of over 150 million records, Bieber is one of the world’s best-selling music artists. He has received numerous accolades, including a Grammy Award, 18 American Music Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, a record 21 MTV Europe Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. Time magazine named Bieber one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011. He was included on Forbes‘ list of the top ten most powerful celebrities in the world, in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2016, Bieber became the first artist from Vevo to surpass 10 billion total video views.

Early life

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario, at St Joseph’s Hospital, and was raised in Stratford, Ontario. He is the only child of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Pattie Mallette, who were never married. Mallette’s mother Diane and stepfather Bruce helped her raise her son. Bieber’s ancestry includes French-Canadian, Irish, English, Scottish, and German. He has also stated that he has some undetermined Aboriginal Canadian ancestry.

Through his father Jeremy, Bieber has three younger half-siblings. Jeremy and his ex-girlfriend Erin Wagner, who broke up in 2014 after seven years together, have two children, daughter Jazmyn and son Jaxon. Jeremy married his girlfriend Chelsey in February 2018, and they have a daughter named Bay. Bieber also has a stepsister named Allie, the daughter of his stepmother. Pattie worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Bieber has maintained contact with his father.

Bieber attended a French-language immersion elementary school in Stratford, the Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School. Growing up, he learned to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet. He graduated from high school in Stratford, Ontario, the St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in 2012 with a 4.0 GPA. In early 2007, aged 12, Bieber sang Ne-Yo’s “So Sick” for a local singing competition in Stratford and was placed second. Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber’s popularity on the site grew. In the same year, Bieber busked shows in front of Avon Theatre steps with a rented guitar during tourism season.

Career

2008–2009: Career beginnings and My World

When searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def Recordings, clicked on one of Bieber’s 2007 YouTube videos by accident. Impressed, Braun tracked down the theatre Bieber was performing in, located Bieber’s school, and finally contacted Mallette, who was reluctant because of Braun’s Judaism. She remembered praying, “God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label!”, and, “God, you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?” However, church elders convinced her to let Bieber go with Braun. At 13, Bieber went to Atlanta, Georgia, with Braun to record demo tapes. Bieber began singing for Usher one week later.

Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher. Justin Timberlake was also reportedly in the running to sign Bieber but lost the bidding war to Usher (partly because of the idea that two associated Justins would confuse the market).

Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact L.A. Reid of The Island Def Jam Music Group. Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive Vice-President of Def Jam, where he could manage Bieber’s career at the label. Bieber then moved to Atlanta with his mother to pursue further work with Braun and Usher. Braun became Bieber’s manager in 2008.

Bieber’s first single, “One Time”, was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album. The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009 and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. During fall 2009, it had success in international markets. The song was certified platinum in Canada and the US and gold in Australia and New Zealand. His first release, an extended play entitled My World, was released on November 17, 2009. The album’s second single, “One Less Lonely Girl”, and two promo singles, “Love Me” and “Favorite Girl”, were released exclusively on the iTunes Store and charted within the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100.

One Less Lonely Girl was later also released to radio and peaked within the top 20 in Canada and the US, and was certified gold in the latter. My World was eventually certified platinum in the US and double platinum in both Canada and the United Kingdom. To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU’s VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV’s The Next Star, The Today Show, The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It’s On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET’s 106 & Park. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.

Bieber performed Ron Miller and Bryan Wells’s “Someday at Christmas” for US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which aired on December 20, 2009, on US television broadcaster TNT. Bieber was also one of the performers for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, on December 31, 2009.

2010–2011: My World 2.0 and Never Say Never

Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of “We Are the World” (a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie) for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version.

On March 12, 2010, a version of K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag”, recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti, was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.

In January 2010, “Baby” was released from his debut album My World 2.0. The song featured Ludacris, and became an international hit. It charted at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaked at number three on the Canadian Hot 100 and reached the top ten in several international markets. Two promo singles, “Never Let You Go” and “U Smile”, were top thirty hits on the US Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada. According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received generally favourable reviews. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963. My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries.

To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including The View, the 2010 Kids’ Choice Awards, Nightline, Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 & Park. Sean Kingston appeared on the album’s next single “Eenie Meenie”. The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the top-twenty of most other markets. On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City. The following single from My World 2.0, “Somebody to Love”, was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber’s mentor Usher. On June 23, 2010, Bieber went on his first official headlining tour, the My World Tour, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote My World and My World 2.0. In May 2010, Bieber featured in Soulja Boy’s song “Rich Girl”. In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched-for celebrity on the Internet. That same month, his music video for “Baby” surpassed Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” (2009) as the most viewed, and also the most disliked, YouTube video ever. However, Taylor Swift’s video for her single “Blank Space” (2014) surpassed its number of views in 2015. In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for 3% of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.

On My World 2.0, Bieber’s voice was noted to be deeper than it was in his debut EP, due to puberty. In April 2010, the singer remarked regarding his vocals: “It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I’m dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world … Some of the notes I hit on “Baby” I can’t hit any more. We have to lower the key when I sing live.” Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the CBS American crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which aired on September 23, 2010. He played a “troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother”, who is also a serial bomber. Bieber was also in a subsequent episode of the series, which aired on February 17, 2011, in which his character is killed. Bieber performed a medley of his singles “U Smile”, “Baby”, and “Somebody to Love”, and briefly played the drums, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would be releasing an acoustic album, called My Worlds Acoustic. It was released on November 26, 2010 in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a new song titled “Pray”.

A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, was released on February 11, 2011, directed by Step Up 3D director Jon M. Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated gross of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theatres. It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy Just Go with It, which grossed $31 million. Never Say Never reportedly exceeded industry expectations, nearly matching the $31.1 million grossed by Miley Cyrus’s 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which holds the record for the top debut for a music-documentary. Never Say Never grossed a total of $98,441,954 worldwide. The film is accompanied by his second remix album, Never Say Never – The Remixes, released February 14, 2011, and features remixes of songs from his debut album, with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others. One song from the album, “That Should Be Me (remix)”, featured with American country band Rascal Flatts, won him his first award in country music for Collaborative Video of the Year in CMT Music Awards in June 2011. Time magazine named Bieber one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list. In June 2011, Bieber was ranked No. 2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30. He is the youngest star, and 1 of 7 musicians on the list, having raked in $53 million in a 12-month period. The same month, his collaborative single “Next to You” with American singer Chris Brown has released. The unfinished video for that song was leaked online on June 6, and the official video was released on June 17. On November 1, 2011, Bieber released the Christmas-themed Under the Mistletoe, his second studio album. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 210,000 copies in its first week of release. The first single from the album, “Mistletoe” peaked at number one on the US Billboard Holiday Digital Songs chart. Bieber re-recorded Mariah Carey’s single “All I Want For Christmas Is You” with Carey as well for the album.

2012–2014: Believe, Journals, and other appearances

In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, entitled Believe. The following week, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce that the first single would be called “Boyfriend”, and was released on March 26, 2012. The song debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, selling a total of 521,000 digital units, the second-highest-ever debut digital sales week. Bill Werde of Billboard noted that it failed to debut at number one because the digital download of the track was available only through the iTunes Store, “restricting the buying option for those do not frequent the Apple retail store”. “Boyfriend” became Bieber’s first single ever to reach the top position on the Canadian Hot 100 by debuting at number one and staying on for one week. Bieber was featured on American hip hop group Far East Movement’s song “Live My Life”, from their fourth studio album Dirty Bass, in February 2012. The song emerged online five days before its scheduled release date and peaked within the top thirty of the Billboard Hot 100. The first promotional single from the album, “Die in Your Arms”, was released on May 29, 2012 and the second promotional single, “All Around the World” featuring American rapper Ludacris, followed the next week. The second single from Believe, “As Long as You Love Me” featuring rapper Big Sean, was released on June 11, 2012. It peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100.

His third studio album, Believe, was released on June 19, 2012 by Island Records. The album marked a musical departure from the teen pop sound of his previous releases, and incorporated elements of dance-pop and R&B genres. Intent on developing a more “mature” sound, Bieber collaborated with a wide range of urban producers for the release as well as some long-time collaborators, including Darkchild, Hit-Boy, Diplo, and Max Martin. Entertainment Weekly praised Bieber’s musical shift, calling the album both a “reinvention and a reintroduction”. Rolling Stone noted the deeper voice and more “intense” beats found on the album, although it lampooned one of his euphemisms for newfound sexual maturity (“If you spread your wings, you can fly away with me”). Believe debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming his fourth number-one album. The album sold 57,000 copies in its first week in Canada, debuting atop the Canadian Albums Chart. In September 2012, Bieber was featured on “Beautiful”, a song from Carly Rae Jepsen’s second studio album, Kiss (2012). In October 2012, the third single from Believe, “Beauty and a Beat” featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, was released. The music video held the record for the most video views in 24 hours when it was released, with 10.6 million views.

The Believe Tour, which further promoted the album, began in September 2012 in Glendale, Arizona. On December 14, 2012, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he announced plans to release an acoustic album titled Believe Acoustic, which was released on January 29, 2013.

Bieber returned to Saturday Night Live as the host and musical guest on the February 9, 2013 episode. His appearance was panned by critics and cast members, including Kate McKinnon, who said Bieber was not comfortable with his hosting duties, and Bill Hader, who said he did not enjoy the presence of Bieber or his entourage. Hader added that in his eight years on the television program, Bieber was the only host who lived up to his reputation.

On March 7, 2013, Bieber fainted backstage at London’s O2 Arena after complaining of breathing problems throughout his concert performance and was taken to the hospital. Bieber cancelled his second Lisbon, Portugal concert at the Pavilhão Atlântico, which was to be held on March 12, because of low ticket sales. The concert held in the same venue on March 11 did go on as scheduled. In mid-August 2013, a remixed duet version of Michael Jackson’s previously unreleased song “Slave to the Rhythm”, featuring Bieber, leaked online. In response to criticism over this remix, the Michael Jackson Estate stated that it had not authorized the release of this recording, and has since made attempts to remove the song from as many web sites and YouTube channels as possible. Later, a song titled “Twerk” by rapper Lil Twist, featuring Bieber as well as Miley Cyrus, also leaked. In September, Bieber was featured in Maejor Ali’s song “Lolly” with rapper Juicy J. A music video for “Melodies”, the debut single of American singer Madison Beer, was released in the same month featuring Bieber in a cameo appearance.

On October 3, 2013, Bieber announced that he would release a new song every Monday for 10 weeks as a lead-up to the film Justin Bieber’s Believe, which entered production in May 2012 and was released on December 25, 2013. The film is a follow-up to Bieber’s first theatrical film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, with Jon M. Chu returning as director. The first song of Music Mondays, “Heartbreaker”, was released on October 7. The second song, “All That Matters”, was released on October 14, followed by “Hold Tight” on October 21, “Recovery” on October 28, “Bad Day” on November 4, and “All Bad” on November 11. The seventh song, “PYD” featuring R. Kelly, was released on November 18; it was followed by “Roller Coaster” on November 25, and “Change Me” on December 2. The final song, “Confident” featuring Chance the Rapper, was released on December 9, 2013. That same day, it was announced that all 10 tracks will be featured on an upcoming collection called Journals. It reportedly featured five additional unreleased songs, a music video for “All That Matters”, and a trailer for Believe. Journals was only available for purchase via iTunes for a limited time only: from December 23, 2013, to January 9, 2014. The titles of the five new additional songs are: “One Life”, “Backpack” featuring Lil Wayne, “What’s Hatnin’ ” featuring Future, “Swap It Out”, and “Memphis” featuring Big Sean and Diplo. Bieber released a song titled “Home to Mama” featuring Australian singer Cody Simpson in November 2014. The same month, Bieber topped Forbes magazine’s Forbes 30 Under 30 annual ranking, which lists the highest-earning celebrities under 30 for that year.

Because of the disbanding of Universal Music’s division, The Island Def Jam Music Group, in April 2014, Bieber and a number of artists were subsequently transferred to another Universal Music-related division, Def Jam Recordings, causing Bieber to no longer be signed to Island Records.

2015–2017: Purpose

In February 2015, Bieber released a song “Where Are Ü Now”, with Jack Ü. The song won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording at the 2016 Grammy Awards. In March 2015, Bieber made an appearance in the music video for Carly Rae Jepsen’s single “I Really Like You”.

In March 2015, Bieber was the featured roastee in Comedy Central’s annual roast special. Bieber filmed an episode for the Fox TV reality series Knock Knock Live, and aired before the show was cancelled after two episodes. On August 28, 2015, Bieber released a new single titled “What Do You Mean?” as the lead single from his fourth studio album Purpose. The song is a blend of teen pop, electronic dance music and acoustic R&B and became Bieber’s first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. He became the youngest male artist to debut at the top of that chart, earning him a Guinness World Record. On October 23, 2015, Bieber released the album’s second single titled “Sorry” as an instant download, with the pre-order of the album on iTunes. The song debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. After eight non-consecutive weeks at number two, on the week charting January 23, 2016, “Sorry” climbed to the top spot of the chart and became Bieber’s second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The third single from Purpose, “Love Yourself” also peaked at number one in the US, making Bieber the first male artist in almost a decade to have three number-ones from an album since Justin Timberlake last did it with his album FutureSex/LoveSounds in 2006/2007. “Company” was announced as the fourth single on March 8, 2016. On February 12, 2016, Bieber’s first four albums were released on vinyl for the first time.

Purpose was released on November 13, 2015, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming Bieber’s sixth album to debut at the top of that chart. It was the fourth best-selling album of 2015 with worldwide sales of 3.1 million copies. As of June 2016, it had sold 4.5 million copies globally. On November 11, 2015, Bieber announced he would embark on the Purpose Tour. The worldwide concert tour started in Seattle, Washington on March 9, 2016. On July 24, 2017, Bieber cancelled the remaining dates of his Purpose Tour “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

On July 22, 2016, Bieber released a new single with EDM trio Major Lazer and Danish singer MØ titled “Cold Water”. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, becoming Bieber’s third number-two debut on the ranking, passing Mariah Carey’s record to become the artist with the most number-two debuts. In August 2016, Bieber was featured on French DJ DJ Snake’s single “Let Me Love You”. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Later, Bieber was featured on American singer Post Malone’s single “Deja Vu”, which later appeared as the fourth single from the latter’s debut studio album Stoney in September 2016. Bieber then appeared in the documentary Bodyguards: Secret Lives from the Watchtower (2016).

2017–2019: Collaborations

On April 16, 2017, Puerto Rican singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee released a remix for their song “Despacito” featuring Bieber. The song was Bieber’s first release of 2017 and the first in which he sings in Spanish. The remix boosted the original song to the Hot 100’s Top 10, being the first mostly Spanish language top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 since Macarena in 1996. The remix is the most viewed song of all time on the crowdsourced media knowledge base Genius, with 21.2 million views.

Bieber, along with rappers Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne, provided vocals on DJ Khaled’s single “I’m the One”, released on April 28, 2017. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bieber’s second number-one debut and his fourth song to top the chart. One week later, “Despacito” topped the charts in the US, making the single the first mostly Spanish-language Hot 100 No. 1 in more than 20 years, becoming his fifth number one single and which made Bieber the first artist ever to notch new No. 1s in back-to-back weeks. On June 9, 2017, French DJ David Guetta’s single “2U”, in which Bieber was featured, was released. The first music video for “2U” features Victoria’s Secret models lip synching to the song.

On August 17, 2017, Bieber released the single “Friends” with American record producer and songwriter BloodPop. Songwriters Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter reunited with Bieber to construct the song, just as they helped create his single “Sorry” in 2015 on his studio album Purpose. Bieber did not attend the 2018 Grammy Awards Show to perform the nominated song “Despacito”, claiming that he would not make any award show appearances until his next album was finished. In July 2018, Bieber reunited with DJ Khaled in “No Brainer”, co-featuring again with Chance the Rapper and Quavo. He also featured in the accompanying music video.

On May 10, 2019, British singer Ed Sheeran and Bieber released the single “I Don’t Care”, from Sheeran’s album No.6 Collaborations Project (2019). The pair had previously collaborated, with Sheeran co-writing Bieber’s 2015 song “Love Yourself”, and Major Lazer’s 2016 song “Cold Water”, which featured Bieber. “I Don’t Care” became a worldwide hit, reaching number-one in 26 countries, while peaking at number 2 in the United States. Bieber later featured on a remix of Billie Eilish’s breakthrough single “Bad Guy”, which was released on July 11. On October 4, 2019, Bieber and country music duo Dan + Shay released the song “10,000 Hours”, debuting at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100.

2019–present: Changes

On March 25, 2019, Bieber announced through Instagram that he will be taking a break from music to fix “deep rooted issues” that he has been dealing with. However, he later announced that a fifth studio album was forthcoming at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. On December 24, 2019, Bieber announced that he would be releasing his fifth studio album and embarking on his fourth concert tour in 2020. The album’s first single, “Yummy”, was released on January 3, 2020. It debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. On December 31, 2019, Bieber also released a trailer announcing his 10-episode YouTube Originals documentary series Seasons, which will appear in episodes on Mondays and Wednesdays, starting on January 27, 2020. Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 28, 2020, Bieber finally confirmed the release date of his fifth studio album, Changes, to be February 14, 2020. The same day, he also released a promotional single for the album, “Get Me”, featuring singer Kehlani. On February 7, Bieber released “Intentions” (featuring Quavo) as the second single from the album. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Changes was released on February 14, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, his seventh US number-one album.

On January 27, 2020, at the premier of Bieber’s Seasons documentary series, Bieber announced a new single, “La Bomba”, featuring Colombian singer J Balvin, in which Bieber would sing in both English and Spanish. On February 28, 2020, a clip of the music video shoot was leaked which included a portion of the song. On May 8, 2020 American singer Ariana Grande and Bieber released the single “Stuck with U”, which topped the Billboard Hot 100. On September 18, 2020, Bieber released a collaboration with Chance the Rapper titled “Holy”, which Bieber called the start of his new era. It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. On October 15, 2020, he released “Lonely”, a collaboration with Benny Blanco. Bieber and J Balvin were featured on a remix of 24kGoldn’s single, “Mood”, which was released on November 6, 2020. On November 20, 2020, Shawn Mendes and Bieber released “Monster”, for Mendes’ fourth studio album, Wonder. On January 1, 2021, Bieber released the single “Anyone”.

Artistry

Musical style

Bieber’s music is mainly pop and R&B. In 2010, Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone asserted that the content of his music was “offering a gentle introduction to the mysteries and heartaches of adolescence: songs flushed with romance but notably free of sex itself”. In January 2012, Bieber told V magazine that he doesn’t want to sing about sex, drugs and swearing. He stated “I want to do it at my own pace. I don’t want to start singing about things like sex, drugs and swearing. I’m into love, and maybe I’ll get more into making love when I’m older. But I want to be someone who is respected by everybody.” But since then, Bieber gradually altered his artistry, with Peter Gicas of E! Online describing “PYD” as “sexed-up”, while In Touch Weekly magazine describing his song with Maejor Ali and Juicy J “Lolly” might make his fans a bit uncomfortable because of its lyrics. After his hit in 2015 on Jack Ü’s track “Where Are Ü Now”, Bieber released the EDM-fuelled album Purpose a collaboration with Diplo, DJ Snake and Major Lazer.

Influences

Bieber has cited Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Tupac, and Usher as his musical inspirations. Believe was influenced by Timberlake, for which Bieber was trying to “create a new sound that people aren’t really used to hearing … like when did FutureSex/LoveSounds: It was a new sound… acoustic guitar over hard drums.” Bieber and his work have influenced various recording artists including Why Don’t We,Johnny Orlando,Niall Horan, and Billie Eilish, with Eilish’s mom recalled she and her husband considered taking Eilish to therapy over her obsession with Bieber’s single and music video for “As Long As You Love Me” in 2012. Singers Dua Lipa and Charlie Puth have stated that they were influenced by the discovery of Bieber on YouTube which inspired them to achieve the same.

Voice

Bieber initially sang with a boy soprano voice, before his voice broke, as was evidenced during the debut performance of “Pray” at the 2010 American Music Awards. Sean Michaels of The Guardian described puberty as “the biggest threat to his career” at the time. Jody Rosen commented that Bieber sings with “swing and rhythmic dexterity” on his debut album, noting his tone to be “nasal”.

Bieber started to receive voice coaching from Jan Smith in 2008.

As an adult singer, Bieber’s voice type is tenor, with a vocal range spanning from the baritone A₂ to the high tenor F₅. In a review of his Purpose album, Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph complimented his “soft, supple and seductive singing.” Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian also praised Bieber’s “affectedly breathy voice”, noting that “the voice soon palls, but the songs are often interesting.”

Business ventures and endorsements

In 2010, Bieber signed a deal with Proactiv. In the same year, Bieber partnered with Nicole by OPI to launch a nail polish line “The One Less Lonely Girl Collection”, which sold exclusively in Walmart. Bieber’s nail polish line sold one million bottles less than two months after its release. Bieber endorsed Adidas, beside Derrick Rose and Venus Williams, in 2012. He became the new “face” and “body” of Calvin Klein in early 2015. Entertainment Tonight reported that Bieber had used MYO-X, a dietary supplement, in preparation for the photo shoot. Bieber was criticized for “… hyping the latest ‘miracle’ supplement MYO-X, to his 59 million Twitter fans.” In June 2015, Bieber teamed up with StarShop, a new shopping app launched by Kevin Harrington. Bieber endorses Beats By Dre, Elizabeth Arden and Best Buy. Bieber has been credited with boosting the careers of other singers such as Carly Rae Jepsen and Madison Beer when he tweeted about them.

He has released four fragrances. He launched his debut fragrance, Someday, in 2011; it grossed more than three million US dollars in sales, at Macy’s, in just under three weeks, which industry experts regard as a successful celebrity-led launch. On the heels of that 2011 best-seller, he launched his second fragrance, Girlfriend, in June 2012. His third fragrance, The Key, was launched in July 2013, and his latest fragrance, Justin Bieber Collector’s Edition, launched in 2014.

In January 2019, Bieber launched his own clothing line, “Drew” and has various items, all with either the smiley face logo or simply “drew” written across the front. Bieber trademarked the name for his company in February 2018. In September 2019, after a year long collaboration with Schmidt’s Naturals CEO, Michael Cammarata, Bieber released his deodorant line, “Here +Now.” In October 2020, Bieber released limited edition of the Crocs x Justin Bieber clog, a collaboration with Crocs brand. The design pulls from the Classic Clog range as well as Bieber’s signature yellow from his personal clothing brand, Drew. It sold across select Crocs and partner e-commerce channels, and also sold at Crocs retail stores in China and South Korea as well as on Bieber clothing line’s website.

Public image

General

Bieber has been referred to as the “Prince of Pop” and “King of Teen Pop” by contemporary journalists. Usher commented that while he and Bieber were both signed at the same age, “I had the chance to ramp up my success, where this has happened to Bieber abruptly”. As a result, when he was younger, Usher, Braun, Bieber’s bodyguard, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coached him on handling fame and his public image. After signing Bieber, Usher appointed one of his former assistants, Ryan Good, to be Bieber’s road manager and stylist. Good, once nicknamed Bieber’s “swagger coach”, created a “streetwise look” for the singer which consisted of baseball caps, hoodies, dog chains, and flashy sneakers. Amy Kaufman of The Los Angeles Times comments, “Though a product of a middle-class suburban upbringing in Stratford, Ontario, Bieber’s manner of dress and speech (‘Wassup man, how you doin’?’ or ‘It’s like, you know, whateva’ ‘) suggest he’s mimicking his favourite rappers.” In 2013, Bieber said he was “very influenced by black culture”, but he neither thought “of it as black or white” nor tried to “act or pose in a certain way”. To him, it was “a lifestyle—like a suaveness or a swag”. Wax statues of him with the hairstyle from his early career are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in New York City, London, and Amsterdam.

Bieber was often featured in teen magazines, such as Tiger Beat, and has been labelled a “teen heartthrob”. In 2010, he was frequently criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age, and the following year for an androgynous appearance, which had been commonly noted in the media, including his appearance on the cover of LOVE magazine’s androgyny issue in 2011. His teen-pop music, image (especially as a heartthrob to girls), and the media attention he receives have additionally been criticized. He has been a target of Internet bloggers and message board posters, especially users of the Internet message board 4chan and of YouTube. Nick Collins of The Daily Telegraph said that “Bieber’s character appears to strike a particularly sour note with his Internet critics” who have questioned his manner of speech, among other things.

In his 20s, especially after his marriage in 2018, Bieber’s persona changed. As his fan base got older and he got married, Bieber transitioned away from the teenage heartthrob image, taking on a more mature personality and a more soft-spoken style of speech. In an interview with Vogue in February 2019, Bieber said that he would “laugh at his past self”.

YouTube and Twitter

Bieber’s early fanbase developed on YouTube and predated the release of his debut album My World. According to Jan Hoffman of The New York Times, part of Bieber’s appeal stems from his YouTube channel. Chicago Tribune noted that Bieber’s fanbase, “Beliebers”, was among the top words of 2010. Long before the November 2009 release of My World, his YouTube videos attracted millions of views. Braun recognized the appeal. Before flying him to Atlanta, Braun wanted to “build him up more on YouTube first” and had Bieber record more home videos for the channel. “I said: ‘Justin, sing like there’s no one in the room. But let’s not use expensive cameras.’ We’ll give it to kids, let them do the work, so that they feel like it’s theirs”, recalled Braun. Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly; his account was reported to have more than six million followers in November 2010. Bieber surpassed Lady Gaga for being the most followed person on Twitter in January 2013. In early November 2013, Katy Perry surpassed him for having the most followers.

As of 2017, Bieber was the second most followed user of Twitter, while his VEVO channel made him the third most subscribed user of YouTube until by 2018 where it became the second most subscribed user of YouTube. The music video for Bieber’s song “Baby” is the second most disliked on YouTube, receiving over 9.93 million dislikes since its upload in 2010, being only surpassed by the 2018 YouTube Rewind in December 2018. Guinness Book of World Records listed “Baby” as the most disliked video on YouTube and on the Internet as of 2013 and six of Bieber’s music videos (more than any other artist) listed in the top 40 most disliked videos on YouTube. Bieber was frequently a trending topic on Twitter when the feature first launched because his fans frequently discussed him on the network, and he was named the top trending star on Twitter in 2010; Klout gave his account a score of 100. In April 2013, the social media analysis company Socialbakers concluded that 16.7 million of Bieber’s 37 million Twitter followers were not genuine.

Personal life

As Bieber resides in the United States, he is reported to possess an O-1 visa for temporary resident status, based on “extraordinary ability or achievement” in a field. Bieber has said he is not interested in obtaining US citizenship, and has praised Canada as being “the best country in the world”, citing its mostly government-funded health care system as a model example. However, in September 2018, TMZ reported that Bieber had begun the process of becoming an American citizen, following his marriage to Hailey Baldwin.

Relationships

Bieber’s father, Jeremy Bieber, is a former carpenter and pro-am mixed martial artist. In March 2014, Rolling Stone characterized Jeremy as having “split with Justin’s mom when Justin was a toddler, and wasn’t always around afterward. But he has, as of late, accepted a place of honor in his superstar son’s entourage”.

From December 2010 to March 2018, Bieber was in an on-again, off-again relationship with singer and actress Selena Gomez. In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Bieber stated that some of his songs including “Sorry”, “Mark My Words”, and “What Do You Mean?” are about his relationship with Gomez.

Bieber became engaged to model Hailey Baldwin on July 7, 2018. They had briefly dated from December 2015 to January 2016 before splitting, then reconciled in May 2018. Bieber and Baldwin reportedly obtained a marriage license in September 2018, leading to reports that they had a civil marriage. On September 14, 2018, Baldwin stated on Twitter that she and Bieber had not yet married, but deleted the tweet afterward. On November 23, 2018, Bieber stated he was married to Baldwin. Bieber and Baldwin had an official ceremony in Bluffton, South Carolina on September 30, 2019.

Beliefs

Bieber has described himself as a faithful adherent of Christianity, said he communicates with God via prayer, and that “He’s the reason I’m here”. He reflected his faith in a music video with Brandon Burke, titled “#iPledge”, in which he talks about God’s forgiveness. Bieber was baptized on January 9, 2014 by Pentecostal pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong Church, New York, after a born again experience. He has described Lentz as a good friend. When asked how he wants to raise his children, Bieber said, “I’m a Jesus follower. When you accept Jesus, you walk with the Holy Spirit. I just want to be led by the Holy Spirit.” Many of Bieber’s tattoos have religious significance including the medium-sized cross on his chest and a tiny cross under his eye. Bieber also covered up the “Son of God” text tattooed on his abdomen with a large design that features two angels, gothic arches, a skeleton and a serpent.

Regarding sexual abstinence, Bieber told music magazine Rolling Stone in 2011, “I don’t think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them.” He added that he does not “believe in abortion”, and that it is “like killing a baby”. When asked about the case of abortion with regard to rape, however, he said, “I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.” His view on sexual orientation is quoted as “everyone’s own decision”, and he has contributed to the It Gets Better Project, a non-profit group aiming to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.

Philanthropy

Bieber supports Pencils of Promise, a charity founded by Adam Braun, the younger brother of Bieber’s manager. The organization builds schools in developing countries, and Bieber became manager for the organization’s campaign in Guatemala. He serves as a celebrity spokesman for the organization by running ads for the charity and its campaign “Schools4All”. He promises to visit schools that donate the most funds to the organization. He takes part in the charity’s fund-raising galas and donates parts of the proceeds from his concerts and Someday line of fragrances, and various merchandising to the charity. In 2010, Bieber supported a campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) by urging fans to adopt abandoned pets from shelters. Bieber donated his hair to Ellen DeGeneres during his appearance in her talkshow The Ellen DeGeneres Show in March 2011. His hair sold on eBay for more than $40,000 and the proceeds benefited the animal rescue charity, The Gentle Barn. Following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011, Bieber donated proceeds from his concerts in Japan to Japanese Red Cross in May 2011. In December 2011, Bieber donated $100,000 to Whitney Elementary School in Las Vegas to provide students from low income families. Bieber supported Charity:Water, a nonprofit that brings potable drinking water to people in developing countries. On his birthday in 2011 and 2012, he launched his campaign to urge his followers to donate on Twitter. Bieber was named top charitable celeb of 2011 by American news aggregator and blog HuffPost.

In 2013, Bieber launched his online #GiveBackPhilippines campaign for helping the victims of Typhoon Haiyan and travelled to the Philippines after raising $3 million. His work in the country earned him a star on the Philippine Walk of Fame. He also supports Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Alzheimer’s Association. In September 2017, Bieber donated $25,000 to the American Red Cross to help people in Texas after the severe destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey.

In February 2020, Bieber made a donation to Beijing Chunmiao Children Aid Foundation in China to support COVID-19 relief. Bieber and Ariana Grande collaborated on the single “Stuck With U”, released in May 2020 as the first of series of singles coordinated by entertainment executive Scooter Braun, who is also Bieber’s manager, to support the COVID-19 pandemic. All net proceeds from the song went to the First Responders Children’s Foundation to fund grants and scholarships for children of first responders and health care workers who worked on the front lines during the pandemic. In September 2020, Bieber and Chance the Rapper announced that they’ve partnered with Cash App and will donate $250,000 to fans who are struggling during the pandemic.

Legal issues and controversies

Bieber had several run-ins with the law around the world before his first arrest in 2014, including when he was accused of reckless driving in his neighbourhood in 2012, and charged in Brazil with vandalism in 2013. One of his neighbours in Calabasas, California, accused Bieber of throwing eggs at his home on January 9, 2014, and causing thousands of dollars of damage. On January 23, 2014, Bieber was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida, together with singer Khalil, on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI), driving with an over six month expired license, and resisting arrest without violence. Police said that Bieber told authorities he had consumed alcohol, smoked marijuana, and taken prescription drugs. He was released from these charges on a $2,500 bond. A toxicology report revealed that Bieber had THC (a principal constituent of cannabis) and the anti-anxiety medication Xanax in his system at the time of his arrest.

Following Bieber’s arrest on the DUI charge, more than 270,000 people petitioned the White House seeking to have him deported from the United States. Although the number of signatures received was sufficient to require a response under published White House guidelines, the Obama Administration declined substantive comment on the petition. Immigration Law expert Harlan York noted that the likelihood of Bieber being deported was extremely slim. York stated, “About a decade ago, the Supreme Court ruled that driving under the influence, typically, is not a basis to deport someone.”

On July 9, 2014, Bieber was charged with one misdemeanour count of vandalism in California for throwing eggs at his Calabasas neighbour’s home in January. Police earlier claimed that they had video footage of him high-fiving friends after the eggs were thrown. With him pleading no contest to the charge, the Los Angeles County Superior Court sentenced him on July 9 to pay US$80,900 in restitution, serve two years’ probation, complete twelve weeks of anger management, and five days of community service in what the district attorney termed a negotiated settlement. Since then, he has permanently moved to Beverly Hills, California.

On August 13, 2014, the January DUI case was settled with a plea bargain; Bieber pleaded guilty to resisting an officer without violence and a lesser charge of driving without due care and attention. He was fined US$500 and sentenced to attend a 12-hour anger management course and a program that teaches the impact of drunken driving on victims. As part of the plea bargain, he made a US$50,000 contribution to Our Kids, a local children’s charity.

On September 1, 2014, Bieber was arrested and charged with assault and dangerous driving near his hometown of Stratford, Ontario, after a collision between a minivan and Bieber’s all-terrain vehicle on August 29. Ontario police said that he then “engaged in a physical altercation” with an occupant of the minivan. He was released shortly and his lawyer blamed the incident on “the unwelcome presence of paparazzi”. On September 8, Toronto dropped an assault charge against him originally brought up on January 29 for an incident with a limousine driver in December 2013. In November 2014, he was ordered to appear in Argentina within 60 days by a Buenos Aires court to give testimony on an alleged assault on a photographer on November 9, 2013. When he failed to do so, an arrest warrant was issued and two of his bodyguards were released in Argentina in April 2015.

In June 2014, a video emerged of a 15-year-old Bieber telling a joke about black people, which used the word “nigger” multiple times. In the same month, a second video showed a 15-year-old Bieber giggling as he croons his song “One Less Lonely Girl”, but parodying the main lyric as “One less lonely nigger”, and stating that if he were to kill one, he would be “part of the KKK”. He apologized the day the latter was released: “Facing my mistakes from years ago has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with.”

In July 2017, the Chinese government banned Justin Bieber from performing in China. A Chinese Bieber fan reached out to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture requesting the reason for the ban. The Bureau released a statement, explaining “Justin Bieber is a gifted singer, but he is also a controversial young foreign singer”, and “In order to maintain order in the Chinese market and purify the Chinese performance environment, it is not suitable to bring in badly behaved entertainers.”

In June 2020, Bieber was accused of sexual assault by an anonymous woman, merely known as “Danielle”, who claimed on Twitter that the singer had made non-consensual sexual acts at a Four Seasons hotel in Austin, Texas in March 2014 while with then-girlfriend Selena Gomez. The woman claimed that she had been inspired to tell her story by Twitter user ‘itsgabby’, who had accused actor Ansel Elgort of sexual assault the week prior. In a series of tweets, Bieber denied all the allegations stating that sexual abuse “is something I don’t take lightly”, providing evidence that he wasn’t present in the alleged location within the said time that the alleged incident took place proving that he was innocent. He further said that his team would be taking legal action against the accuser, whose Twitter account and statement had disappeared shortly after Bieber had responded to the claim.

Health

Bieber has struggled with mental health issues, particularly depression and anxiety, at various points during his career. He has generally been open about these issues.

On January 8, 2020, Bieber announced on his Instagram that he had been diagnosed with Lyme disease, saying that speculation by other people that he looked like he was on drugs was false. He also revealed that he has infectious mononucleosis, which affected his neurological and overall health.

Achievements

Throughout his career, Bieber has sold an estimated 150 million records worldwide as of 2019, making him one of the world’s best-selling music artists. In 2011, Bieber was honoured with a star in front of Avon Theater in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, where he used to busk when he was younger. On November 23, 2012, Bieber was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper. He was one of 60,000 Canadians to receive the Diamond Jubilee medal that year. In 2013, Bieber received a Diamond award from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to recognize his single “Baby” as the highest-certified digital song of all time (record later broken by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito”). Bieber has earned ten Grammy nominations (including one win), two Brit Awards, six NRJ Music Award nominations (Bieber won four awards out of six nominations, but he has six awards because he was honoured twice with special awards), nineteen Billboard Music Awards, and numerous fan voted accolades which include fifteen American Music Awards and twenty three Teen Choice Awards. He also has won twenty one MTV Europe Music Awards (one is a special award), which is the most awards received by a single artist to date.

On November 13, 2015, the release of Purpose marked his sixth album to debut at number one. He also became the first artist, since Elvis Presley in 2005, to replace his own song as number one on the UK Singles Chart. As of 2016, Bieber has received fourteen titles in the Guinness World Records, which include eight that were achieved from the success of his album Purpose and was featured in the 2017 Edition. These records included the most streamed track on Spotify in one week, the most streamed album on Spotify in one week, the most simultaneous tracks and most simultaneous new entries on the US Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist, the first act to occupy all top three positions simultaneously on the UK Singles Chart, the most followers on Twitter by a male, the most viewed music channel on YouTube by an individual, and the most subscribers on YouTube for a musician by a male.

Bieber was included among the top ten in The Highest-Paid Celebrities Under 30 annual list in the world by Forbes magazine. He has been listed six times in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Steps to Stardom, an exhibit on Bieber’s early career, opened in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario in February 2018 at the Stratford Perth Museum, offering a collection of mementoes from his formative years and rise to international stardom. The items on display include a professional drum kit he owned as a younger child, his Grammy Award, microphones, his Stratford Warriors hockey jacket, and personal letters, including one from Michelle Obama. Bieber made a number of visits to the museum. “Steps to Stardom” was originally scheduled to close in October 2018 but board of the museum extended its stay for at least another year after the exhibit broke attendance records set by its Anne Frank House exhibit in 2015.

Discography

Studio albums

• My World 2.0 (2010)
• Under the Mistletoe (2011)
• Believe (2012)
• Purpose (2015)
• Changes (2020)

Filmography

• Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011)
• Men in Black 3 (2012)
• Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)
• Zendaya: Behind the Scenes (2012)
• Justin Bieber’s Believe (2013)
• Behaving Badly (2014)
• Lip Sync Battle (2015)
• Zoolander 2 (2016)
• Killing Hasselhoff (2017)
• Justin Bieber: Seasons (2020)

Tours

• Urban Behavior Tour (2009)
• My World Tour (2010–2011)
• Believe Tour (2012–2013)
• Purpose World Tour (2016–2017)
• Changes Tour (2021)