Justin Drew Bieber born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian pop-R&B singer.Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun,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,and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid..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.
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.
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.
Early life
Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario 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.Bieber's paternal great-grandfather was a German immigrant to Canada. During his ch
ildhood, Bieber was interested in
hockey,
soccer, and
chess; he often kept his musical aspirations to himself.As he grew up, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.
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.
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.
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?”
However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13,
to
Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes.
A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B singer/songwriter
Usher.
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.
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).
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.
Braun became Bieber's manager.
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. During fall 2009 it had success in international markets.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. "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.My World was eventually certified Platinum in the US and Double Platinum in both Canada and the UK.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,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.The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the US and Gold in Australia and New Zealand.
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.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.Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews". 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. 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 and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries.The View, the 2010 Kids Choice Awards, Nightline, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 and Park.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. According to review aggregator To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including 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 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.In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched for celebrity on the Internet.That same month his music video, "Baby", surpassed Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" to become the most viewed, and most disliked YouTube video ever.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. Bieber began recording his second album in July 2010 in New York City.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."British singer/songwriter Taio Cruz confirmed in July 2010 that he is writing songs for Bieber's next album.Hip hop producer Dr. Dre produced two songs with Bieber in July 2010,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.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.Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would release an acoustic album, called My Worlds Acoustic.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". 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.It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy Just Go With It, which grosssed $31 million.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.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.
Awards and nominations
