Justin Bieber

Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter Braun and signed with RBMG Records in 2008, gaining recognition with the release of his debut seven-track EP '' My World'' (2009) and soon establishing himself as a teen idol.

Bieber achieved commercial success with his teen pop-driven debut studio album, '' My World 2.0'' (2010), which debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200, making him the youngest solo male act to top the chart in 47 years. The album spawned the internationally successful single "Baby", which became one of the highest certified singles of all time in the US. His second studio album, ''Under the Mistletoe'' (2011), became the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut at number one in the US. Bieber experimented with dance-pop in his third studio album, '' Believe'' (2012), and went on to become the first artist in history with five US number-one albums at age 18. Between 2013 and 2014, Bieber was involved in multiple controversies and legal issues, which had a drastic impact on his public image.

In 2015, Bieber explored EDM with the release of "Where Are Ü Now", which won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording. The song's musical direction played an instrumental role in his fourth studio album, '' Purpose'', which produced three US number-one singles: "Love Yourself", " Sorry", and "What Do You Mean?". He became the first artist in history to occupy the entire top three of the UK Singles Chart. Bieber diversified on numerous collaborations between 2016 and 2017, including " I'm the One" and his remix to " Despacito" — both reaching number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 a week apart, making him the first artist in history to chart new number-one songs in consecutive weeks. "Despacito" was named the greatest Latin song of all time by '' Billboard'' and earned Bieber his career-first Latin Grammy Award. In 2019, he released a country collaboration with Dan + Shay, " 10,000 Hours", which won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

In 2020, Bieber released his R&B-led fifth studio album, ''Changes'', which debuted at number one in both the UK and US, and a standalone duet with Ariana Grande, "Stuck with U", which debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Bieber returned to his pop roots on his sixth studio album, '' Justice'' (2021). It produced the worldwide hit "Peaches" and debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200, making him the youngest soloist to have eight US number-one albums, a record held previously by Elvis Presley since 1965. The same year, Bieber released "Stay" with the Kid Laroi, which became his eighth US number-one single.

Bieber is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 150 million records worldwide. He is credited with three Diamond certifications from the RIAA for "Baby", "Sorry" and "Despacito". He has received numerous accolades, including two Grammy Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, eight Juno Awards, two Brit Awards, one Bambi Award, 26 ''Billboard'' Music Awards, 18 American Music Awards, 22 MTV Europe Music Awards (the most wins for any artist), 23 Teen Choice Awards (the most wins for a male individual), and 33 Guinness World Records. ''Time'' named Bieber one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011, and he was included on ''Forbes'' list of the top ten most powerful celebrities in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Early life

Justin Drew Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, at St. Joseph's Hospital in London, Ontario, and was raised in Stratford. He is the son 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.

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. He graduated from high school in Stratford, the St. Michael Catholic Secondary School, in 2012 with a 4.0 GPA. Growing up, he learned to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet. 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''

While 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 at, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted his mother Mallette, who was initially 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 age 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 reportedly also in the running to sign Bieber but lost the bidding war to Usher, partly due to 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 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 titled '' My World'', was released on November 17, 2009. The album's second single, " One Less Lonely Girl", and two promotional 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. As a result, he became the first solo artist to have four singles chart in the top 40 of the Hot 100 before the release of a debut album.

"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. Following the release of ''My World'', Bieber became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''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 former 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'', ''Never Say Never'', and ''Under the Mistletoe''

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 the charity single "We Are the World" 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 30 hits on the US Hot 100, and top 20 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 10 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 20 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 at the time. 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.Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 12, 2011. 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", featuring country music band Rascal Flatts, won him his first award in country music for Collaborative Video of the Year at the 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 became the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and sold 210,000 copies in its first week of release. On November 19, 2021, the album was listed among the Greatest of All Time Top Holiday Albums chart by ''Billboard''. The first single from the album, " Mistletoe" peaked at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Holiday 100 and Holiday Digital Songs charts. Bieber released " All I Want for Christmas Is You (SuperFestive!)" as the second single from the album, which is a re-recorded version of Mariah Carey's original single " All I Want for Christmas Is You" with Carey providing vocals on the track. ''Billboard'' listed the album and its singles, among the greatest Holiday albums and songs of all time, respectively.

2012–2014: ''Believe'', ''Journals'', and other appearances

In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, titled '' 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, 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 hodo 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 30 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

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