Justin Bieber

Biography from Biography Reference Bank (2010)
Copyright (c) by The H. W. Wilson Company. All rights reserved


The teen pop star Justin Bieber, who was discovered through a series of YouTube videos, became a force in the music industry with the release of two top-selling records--My World (2009) and My World 2.0 (2010). Leah Greenblatt wrote for Entertainment Weekly (March 10, 2010), "Bieber Fever, the heady pop cultural delirium that seems to leave grown-ups untouched while sweeping every susceptible tween in its path, is now a full-blown epidemic--one characterized by shopping-mall riots, Twitpic raptures, and generalized episodes of mass swooning."

Justin Drew Bieber was born on March 1, 1994 in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, the only child of Jeremy Bieber and Pattie Mallette. While growing up he taught himself to play a number of instruments, including guitar, drums, piano, and trumpet. In the official biography posted on the Island Def Jam Web site, he explained, "I entered a local singing competition called 'Stratford Idol.' The other people in the competition had been taking singing lessons and had vocal coaches. I wasn't taking it too seriously at the time, I would just sing around the house. I was only 12 and I got second place." Two years later Bieber began posting clips on the video-sharing Web site YouTube, assuming that his extended family and friends would be the only ones to watch. His performances--covers of such pop and R&B artists as Usher and Ne-Yo--proved so popular, however, that a large YouTube fan base began to develop.

After viewing the videos, Scooter Braun, a talent agent and former marketing executive for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def record label, set up an audition for the young singer with R&B star Usher and Island Def Jam CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid. Bieber was flown to Atlanta for the audition, and soon thereafter he was signed to a recording contract with Island Def Jam and RBMG, a label imprint on which Braun and Usher work as partners. Usher, who had begun his music career at a similarly young age, told Monica Herrera for Reuters (July 19, 2009, on-line), "Given my experience, I knew exactly what it would take for him to become an incredible artist."

In 2009 Bieber had four Billboard Hot 100 hits: "One Time," "One Less Lonely Girl," "Favorite Girl," and "Love Me." He became the first solo artist in Billboard history to see four singles enter the Top 40 of the Hot 100 list prior to an album's release. My World appeared on shelves in November 2009 and became the biggest-selling debut of the year. It has since been certified platinum in both the U.S. and Canada.

Bieber's follow up, My World 2.0, featured 10 songs and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Andy Kellman wrote for the All Music Guide Web site, "The two [Bieber] releases are certainly of a piece, filled with upbeat R&B-flavored pop songs with a few ballads that might be termed adult contemporary if the singer happened to be of age. Bieber makes all the right, charming moves for a teen, and he covers all the bases. The dance-pop songs are light on the ears yet memorable; the unrequited material sounds deeply felt; the ballads have all the necessary us-against-the-world teen-love dramatics. . . . Everything is age-appropriate. 'She says she needs a little company,' sung with the slightest wink in the eye, is as racy as it gets, and even then, Bieber projects an image that is utterly harmless."

Older journalists sometimes liken the fervor of Beiber's fans to that of Frank Sinatra's or the Beatles'. In November 2009 such a large crowd showed up to see Bieber at a Long Island mall that police instructed Braun to cancel the appearance, for fear that a mob scene would ensue. When it took Braun too long to do so, five people received minor injuries, and he was later brought up on charges of reckless endangerment and criminal nuisance. In April 2010 Bieber's mother was knocked over when a group of fans rushed her son at a New Zealand airport. Although his mother was not injured, Bieber wrote in a post on the social-media service Twitter: "Not happy that someone stole my hat and knocked down my mama. Come on people." (Bieber has more than 2 million Twitter followers.) Later that month Bieber was forced to cancel an Australian concert when a stampede broke out among the more than 4,000 fans who had camped out overnight to see him. "With his floppy bowl haircut and adorable lisp, the teenage pop star Justin Bieber may not seem like a dangerous figure," Dave Itzkoff wrote for the New York Times (April 26, 2010, on-line). "But make no mistake: his public appearances can be battlegrounds."

Suggested Reading: New York Daily News (on-line) May 6, 2010; New York Times (on-line) Apr. 26, 2010; People (on-line) Apr. 19, 2010; Us (on-line) May 10, 2010

Selected Recorings: My World, 2009; My World 2.0, 2010


Citation:
Original source: Biography Reference Bank
Original publication date: 2010
Original publication type: Online
Publisher of original publication: The H. W. Wilson Company
Database publisher: The H. W. Wilson Company
Database: Biography Reference Bank