Justin Drew Bieber[7] (pronounced
/ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994)
[1] is a
Canadian pop-
R&B singer.
[2][3][4] Bieber was discovered in 2008 by
Scooter Braun,
[8] who happened to come across Bieber's videos on
YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with
Usher in
Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher,
[9] and then to a recording contract with
Island Records offered by
L.A. Reid.
[5][10] His debut single, "
One Time", released worldwide in 2009, and peaked in the top ten in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut release,
My World, followed on November 17, 2009, and was eventually certified
platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the
Billboard Hot 100.
[11]
His first full studio release,
My World 2.0, was released on March 23, 2010 and has since received similar success; it debuted at number one and within the top ten of several countries and was certified platinum in the
United States. It was preceded by the worldwide top-ten single, "
Baby," in January 2010. The music video of "Baby" is currently ranked as the most viewed, most discussed, and most disliked
YouTube video.
[12] Bieber followed-up the release of his debut album, with his first headlining tour, the
My World Tour, the remix albums
My Worlds Acoustic and
Never Say Never – The Remixes, and the 3D biopic-concert film
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never which had an opening weekend gross which nearly matched the record for the highest gross for an opening weekend for a concert-film.
The singer has been nominated and awarded numerous accolades over the past few years, winning Artist of the Year at the
2010 American Music Awards, and being nominated for
Best New Artist and
Best Pop Vocal Album at the
53rd Grammy Awards, among others. Bieber is considered a
teen idol, and has been subject to acclaim from fans, opposite of criticism and controversy from matters concerning his popularity and image.
Early life
Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in
London, Ontario[13] and was raised in
Stratford, Ontario. Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant with her son. Mallette, who worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raised Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Bieber maintains contact with his father, Jeremy Bieber, who married another woman and had two children.
[14][15] Bieber's paternal great-grandfather was a
German immigrant to Canada.
[16]
During his childhood, Bieber was interested in
hockey,
soccer, and
chess; he often kept his musical aspirations to himself.
[14] As he grew up, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.
[17][18] In early 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang
Ne-Yo's "
So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and placed second.
[5][18] 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.
[10]
Career
2008–09: Discovery and My World
While searching for videos of a different singer,
Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of
So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident.
[14] Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant because of Braun's
Jewish religion; she remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label! ... you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?”
[14] However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13,
[10] to
Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes.
[14] A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B singer/songwriter
Usher.
[19] Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.
[9] Justin Timberlake was also reportedly in the running to sign Bieber, but lost the bidding war to Usher.
[9][20] Usher then arranged an audition with Antonio L.A. Reid of
Island Def Jam Music Group, who signed Bieber to
Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and
Island Records).
[5][9][10] At that point, Bieber and his mother moved to Atlanta temporarily, also the home of Usher and Braun, to record and get counseling from Braun.
[9] Braun became Bieber's manager.
[10]
Bieber's first single, "
One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album.
[21] The song reached number 12 on the
Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009,
[10] and later peaked at number 17 on the
Billboard Hot 100. During fall 2009 it had success in international markets.
[22] The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the US and Gold in Australia and New Zealand.
[23][24][25] Bieber's 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 forty of the Billboard Hot 100.
[22] "One Less Lonely Girl" was later also released to radio and peaked within the top fifteen in Canada and the U.S., being certified Gold in the latter.
[22] My World was eventually certified Platinum in the US and Double Platinum in both Canada and the
UK.
[25][26][27] To promote the album, Bieber performed in several live shows such as
mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program
The Dome,
YTV's
The Next Star,
The Today Show,
[28][29] 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 with
Rihanna. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of
True Jackson, VP in late 2009.
[30]
Bieber performed
Stevie Wonder's "
Someday at Christmas" for U.S. President
Barack Obama and first lady
Michelle Obama at the
White House for
Christmas in Washington, which was broadcast on December 20, 2009, on U.S. television broadcaster
TNT.
[31] Bieber was also one of the performers at
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December 31, 2009.
[32] Bieber was a presenter at the
52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of
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.
[33] 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.
[edit] 2010–present: My World 2.0
"
Baby", the
lead single from his debut album,
My World 2.0, which features
Ludacris, was released in January 2010 and became his biggest hit thus far, charting at number five in the U.S. and reaching the top ten in seven other countries.
[22] Two promo singles "
Never Let You Go", and "
U Smile" were top thirty hits on the U.S. Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada.
[22] According to review aggregator
Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews".
[34] It debuted at number one on the U.S.
Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since
Stevie Wonder in 1963.
[35] My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the
Canadian Albums Chart,
Irish Albums Chart, and
Australian Albums Chart, and the
New Zealand Albums Chart[22] and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries.
[36][37] To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including
The View, the 2010
Kids Choice Awards,
Nightline,
The Late Show with David Letterman,
The Dome and
106 and Park.
[38] Bieber collaborated with
Sean Kingston on his single "
Eenie Meenie" which also appeared on Bieber's debut album. The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and in the top-twenty of most other markets.
On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on
Saturday Night Live.
[39] On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the
Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in
New York City.
[40] The second single from
My World 2.0, "
Somebody to Love", was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber's mentor
Usher. The single reached number ten in Canada, fifteen in the United States, and the top twenty in multiple international countries.
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.
[41] In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched for celebrity on the Internet.
[42] That same month his music video, "
Baby", surpassed
Lady Gaga's "
Bad Romance" to become the most viewed, and most disliked
YouTube video ever.
[43] In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for three percent of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.
[44]
Bieber began recording his second album in July 2010 in
New York City.
[45] At this point, because of
puberty, his voice was deeper than it was when he recorded his first album. In April 2010, the singer discussing his vocals remarked, "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 anymore. We have to lower the key when I sing live."
[46] British singer/songwriter
Taio Cruz confirmed in July 2010 that he is writing songs for Bieber's next album.
[47] Hip hop producer Dr. Dre produced two songs with Bieber in July 2010
[48] but it is unknown if they were made for the album, which is currently due for a 2011 release.
Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the
CBS crime drama
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, aired on September 23, 2010. He played a "troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother." Bieber will continue to appear in later episodes of the season as his character's story progresses.
[49] Bieber performed a medley of "
U Smile", "
Baby," and "
Somebody to Love" and briefly played the drums at the
2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.
[50] Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would release an acoustic album, called
My Worlds Acoustic.
[51] It was released on
Black Friday in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a completely new song titled "
Pray".
[52]
A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, was released February 11, 2011, directed by
Step Up 3D director
Jon Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated grossing of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theaters.
[53] It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy
Just Go With It, which grosssed $31 million.
[54] Never Say Never is said to have 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.
[55] [56] 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.
[57]
The Observer newspaper in the UK published a report indicating that Justin Bieber is more influential in the social networking sphere than Barack Obama or
The Dalai Lama.
[58] According to Jan Hoffman of
The New York Times, part of Bieber's appeal stems from his YouTube channel. Long before he released his EP,
My World, in mid-November, the YouTube videos attracted millions of views."
[14] Braun recognized the appeal. Prior to 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.
[14] Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a
Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly;
[10] his account was reported in November 2010 to have over 6 million followers.
[59] The accounts also serve marketing purposes; for example, Bieber's music video for "One Time" only began selling quickly after it was uploaded to YouTube.
[60]
Usher comments 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, Usher, Braun, Bieber's bodyguard Kenny, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coach him on handling fame and his public image.
[14] 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 favorite rappers."
[61]
Bieber is often featured in
teen magazines such as
Tiger Beat,
[14] and has been labeled a "teen hearthrob".
[62] Bieber has released a collection of nail varnishes with OPI to raise awareness for charity.
[63]
[edit] Personal life
Bieber is a practicing
Christian.
[64] Bieber was profiled in a February 2011 issue of
Rolling Stone magazine. Asked whether a person should wait until marriage to have sex, Bieber responded, "I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them." Asked about his opinion on abortion, Bieber said he doesn't "believe in abortion" and that it is "like killing a baby."
[65] When asked about cases of rape, he said, "Well, I think that's really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don't know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that."
[65]
[edit] Crowd control problems and other fan behavior
Bieber performing in front of a crowd in September 2009
Bieber's popularity has caused safety concerns. While promoting
My World, Bieber was scheduled to appear at
Long Island's
Roosevelt Field Mall, but the performance had to be canceled.
[66] The event got out of control, and over 35 units from the
Nassau County and
Garden City police departments had to be called in. Several fans received minor injuries. The police arrested an Island Records senior vice-president, James A. Roppo, reportedly for hindering the police's crowd control efforts by not sending a timely message on Twitter as instructed by the police.
[66] James Roppo pleaded not guilty to all charges.
[67][68] On March 24, 2010, Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, was arrested on one count of second-degree reckless endangerment and one count of second-degree criminal nuisance related to the incident. Braun pleaded not guilty to both charges and was later released.
[69]
On April 26, 2010, a scheduled promotional performance was canceled by Australian police after several girls were injured in a
crowd crush. Bieber was scheduled to sing three songs for the Channel Seven program,
Sunrise. In a
Twitter message after the incident, Bieber said: "I want to make this clear... I don't cancel." Bieber's
tweet continued, stating: "I woke up this morning to the police canceling the show for safety reasons. I'm very happy about the welcome and the love from around the world, but I want everyone to still remember my fans' safety comes first. At the end of the day I want you all to enjoy the music.".
[70] The incident did not deter Justin Bieber from scheduling a five-city tour in Australia, as announced on December 2010.
[71]
Bieber's popularity among pre-teen and teenage girls, his wide-ranging fan base is colloquially known as "Beliebers" (a play on the word 'believers'), has also occasionally led to some harsh criticism by fans at other people including personal attacks, death threats and slanderous remarks. These largely are aimed at females that the press has romantically associated him with, most notably socialite, entrepreneur and reality television star
Kim Kardashian,
[72] singer and one-time tour-mate
Jasmine Villegas[73] and actress/singer
Selena Gomez.
[74]
[edit] Target for critics, pranksters, and parodies
Bieber has often been criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age, his teen-pop music, image, and frequent media attention.
[75] He has been a frequent target for internet bloggers and message board posters—notably by users of internet message board
4chan, users of
YouTube,
[76] and various
Facebook groups. Pranks have included a successful campaign to push "Justin Bieber Syphilis" to the top of the
Google Trends Hot Searches list; hacked YouTube videos that were altered so as to redirect users to adult websites or trigger pop-up messages saying that Bieber had been killed in a
car accident; his
Last.fm photograph being changed to
pornographic images; various rumors circulated, from rumors that Bieber had died, joined a cult, or even that his mother was offered $50,000 to pose topless in
Playboy magazine—none of which were true.
[77] This all forced the affected companies to update their security protocols to reverse the damage, and Bieber himself
tweeted to fans reassuring them that he was still living and that false rumors about his mother "just grossed and weirded [him] out."
[77]
Most notable was the campaign to send Bieber to
North Korea as part of his world tour (entitled
My World Tour).
[77] This was carried out in part by 4chan,
digg, and
reddit users voting for the country on the tour's website, for the free competition to nominate a bonus country for the tour—the second-placed country being
Israel, which presumably was voted for by Israelis genuinely wishing to attend the concert.
[77] It is highly unlikely that Bieber would actually have been given permission by the North Korean government, or concert organizers and management, to enter the country.
[77] Universal Music Group has denied any involvement in a poll that became the target of an online prank. A spokesperson for UMG told
BBC News that it was a "hoax" but declined to give any further comment.
[78] Nick Collins of
The Daily Telegraph speculated that "Bieber's character also appears to strike a particularly sour note with his Internet critics, with many remarks commenting on his youthful appearance, his teen-pop songs, his image as a heart-throb to young teenage girls and his manner of speech".
[79]
Shinee (
