When Justin Bieber was a young boy, he had a dream. He wanted to be the biggest superstar in the world. And he did it. He sold out arenas and won a string of music awards, but he also had to deal with the pressures that come with being such a global celebrity. He struggled with depression, he fought with his parents and he was even arrested for DUIs. But he got back up and kept going. And now, he has a new dream. He wants to help other people. He wants to comfort the kids who are struggling with the same things that he struggled with.
That might explain why the message in his new album, Purpose, sounds so different from his previous records. The new songs — including “What Do You Mean?”, “Sorry,” and “Love Yourself” — have a lot of love in them. But they are also surprisingly melancholy.
The new album was recorded mostly in London with a few sessions in Los Angeles and Miami. It includes guest appearances by Drake, Chance the Rapper and Quavo, among others. The song, “No Brainer,” also features a cameo from actor Michael Keaton, who recently posted a teaser trailer for the video on social media.
Over the course of his career, Bieber has released eight number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 and has sold more than 66 million albums worldwide. He has won two Grammy awards out of 23 nominations, a Latin Grammy award and eight Juno awards. In addition, he has won more than 22 Billboard Music Awards and more than 20 iHeartRadio and MTV Music awards.
As Bieber grew into adulthood, his celebrity overshadowed his music, and his romantic relationships and skirmishes with the law became major sources of tabloid attention. His 2015 album Purpose found a wider audience than his pre-teen fan base, and each of its first three singles reached the top of the chart. He collaborated with other artists and starred in a movie with Miley Cyrus and Kanye West.
He was also the face of a major perfume campaign and a line of colognes called Justified. In 2022, he joined the ranks of Balenciaga’s regular runway models, and he launched a curated collection of Vespa scooters. He also made a series of commercials for Tim Hortons’ bestselling Timbits, which he called “timbiebs.”
But it is the new dream that has given the singer his most recent and perhaps greatest sense of purpose. His new music and his inspirational messages are all addressed in some way to his younger self, that kid who was drowning in pressure and felt like he would never be saved. He wants to talk to that kid now and tell him not all is lost. He says he has learned from his mistakes, and that has taught him how to be more compassionate. And he is now trying to share his knowledge with others. He hopes they can avoid the pitfalls that he did.