Bieber was just 16 in 2010 when his album, My World 2.0 (the latter of his two-part debut studio album) debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200, making him the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963. His 2011 album Never Say Never – The Remixes went to #1 when he was 17, making him the only guy to land two chart-topping albums before turning 18 (women to do it include Miley Cyrus and LeAnn Rimes).
Bieber was discovered when the music executive Scooter Braun accidentally clicked on one of his videos on YouTube. He was checking out another artist who was singing Aretha Franklin's "
Respect," and Bieber came up with a related video singing the same song. Braun clicked on it thinking it was the same artist, and realized that the 20-year-old he thought he was watching was a 12 year old.
Justin Bieber told Martha Stewart in an interview that Scooter Braun "kind of stalked" him before he became his manager. "He contacted my great aunt, who I'd never met before. He contacted the school board," the singer said.
Born and raised in Canada, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 2008 to get signed by Usher, who had just won the battle for the talented kid over Justin Timberlake. Apart from producer, Usher also took the role of a mentor to the teen singer. As Bieber shares with Speed magazine, "Usher has had the greatest influence on my musical career thus far. He taught me how to hold a note, how to play the piano and even how to freestyle some funky-fresh lyrics."
Justin Bieber fans, who dubbed themselves "The Beliebers," have been named the greatest superfan community of the past 20 years by Rolling Stone Magazine.
Bieber's talent quickly turned him into a teen idol to the point that his popularity caused safety concerns, and he had to cancel a number of performances for safety reasons. In the middle of his world tour in 2011 he was even warned by the police in Liverpool that he could be arrested and charged with "inciting a riot" if he stepped outside of his hotel room. He managed to negotiate a compromise and wave to the crowd of fans from the balcony. The Daily Mail compared the Bieber Fever in Liverpool to the Beatles Mania a few decades earlier.
Justin is the son of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Patricia "Pattie" Mallette, who were both 18 when he was born. His parents never got married and Pattie raised her son with the help of her mother Diane, and stepfather, Bruce. Justin paid tribute to his mom with his song "
Turn to You (Mother's Day Dedication)," which he explained is about, "the struggles she went through and how brave she was and I think the world needs to know that."
To celebrate Justin's 18th birthday, his fans set the Guinness World Record for most social-media messages sent over a 24-hour period with 300,000 tweets. Justin overtook Lady Gaga in January 2013 as having the most popular celebrity Twitter account with over 33 million followers. His record was taken ten months later by Katy Perry, whose 46,555,000 followers as at November 4, 2013 overtook Justin's 46,523,000.
Justin is fond of fondue as the lyrics to "
Boyfriend" suggest. "Not the cheese kind," he said, "but the chocolate kind with, like, strawberries and stuff. Who eats the cheese kind unless you're old and from Paris?"
His autobiography Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever was published when Justin was just 16.
Justin endured his first big scandal when 20-year-old Mariah Yeater sued him for child support claiming he was the father of her baby son. When Justin agreed to a paternity test, Yeater's case fell apart. Justin wrote a song, "
Maria," about the experience.
He is the first singer to have seven singles from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
When Believe Acoustic debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, Justin became the first ever person under the age of 19 to score five #1 albums.
In 2012, Justin bought a 9,000-square-foot custom-built Spanish Estate in the gated community of The Oaks of Calabasas, Los Angeles, for $6.5 million. In 2014 he sold it to Khloe Kardashian for $7.2 million. She took out the skate ramp.
When Justin met with President Obama in the White House in Christmas 2011, he greeted him with, "What up, my dude!" instead of the standard "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. President." Obama returned the love by replying, "What up, Biebs!"
Justin was born at the same hospital in London, Ontario as the actors Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
Justin Bieber is very much committed to his charity work for the Make-A-Wish foundation, having delivered over 250 wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses. "I just love it," he told Kyle and Jackie O on Sydney's KIIS 1065. "One of my favorite parts about what I get to do is hang out with kids. With kids, they don't want anything from me. They just want to have fun and enjoy the moment."
In the week that Purpose was released, Bieber posted 17 songs on the Hot 100, the most that any artist has placed on the chart in a single week. The Canadian star's tally on the December 5, 2015 Hot 100, beat the 14 each that the Beatles managed on April 11, 1964 and Drake earned on the March 7 and October 17, 2015 tallies.
Bieber's record was usurped five months later when Drake posted 20 titles on the Hot 100 May 21, 2016 tally, in the week following the release of Views.
One of Justin's favorite hobbies is skateboarding. Not only does he post Instagram videos of his moves, he even set some of his video for "
What Do You Mean?" in a skate park.
Justin Bieber occupied the #1, 2 and 3 spots on the UK singles chart dated January 10, 2016 with his songs - a feat never accomplished before. "
Love Yourself" was at pole position, "
Sorry" one position below and "
What Do You Mean?" was #3 on the tally.
He had eight different entries in the Guinness World Records 2017 Edition. They were for:
Most streamed track on Spotify in one week with "What Do You Mean?"
Most streamed album on Spotify in one week with Purpose.
Most simultaneous tracks on the US singles chart (the 17 he posted on the December 5, 2015 Hot 100).
The most simultaneous new entries on the US singles chart (13 songs).
The first act to occupy all top three positions simultaneously on the UK singles chart.
The most YouTube subscribers of any male
The most viewed music channel on YouTube.
The most Twitter followers of any guy on the planet.
Bieber spent much of 2019 feeling unwell, with doctors struggling to find what was wrong. Eventually, he was diagnosed with Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread by infected ticks. He shared the news in an Instagram post on January 8, 2020, explaining that he had come across social media speculation that he was taking drugs after he'd been pictured with blotches on his skin.
Justin Bieber briefly dated model Hailey Baldwin in the winter of 2015-2016 before splitting. They reconciled two-and-a-half years later and married in the fall of 2018. The Biebers had a second ceremony in Bluffton, South Carolina on September 30, 2019.
Justin and Hailey Bieber are both Evangelical Christians. Justin was baptized by Pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong Church New York, who is a close friend, on January 9, 2014.
Every year from 2010-2018, Bieber was the most-searched musical artist on Google.
