Justin Bieber has come a long way since he started out posting YouTube videos of himself singing cover songs when he was just 12. The teen idol was discovered by manager Scooter Braun while he was busking outside a theater in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario, and went from being an unknown singer to a global superstar in the span of two years. He became the youngest artist to have seven singles reach number one on the Billboard 200, starred in a concert film that drew thousands of fans into movie theaters and has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide.
But the Bieber phenomenon has also been marred by controversy and bad behavior, including a DUI charge in 2014 and multiple sex assault allegations. And while he has mostly cleaned up his act, he is still a pop icon and has earned millions of dollars per show on his world tour.
Despite all that, there is something very human about the man. There is a moment in the recent Billie Eilish documentary, When We Were Kids, where Eilish meets Bieber for the first time at Coachella and is overwhelmed by the size of his fame. But he is the perfect person to help her through it, showing her patience and kindness. He even gets on his knees and prays with her until she is calm enough to continue. He’s not just a big celebrity, he’s a good friend.
On his latest album, Purpose, Bieber takes a bit of time to, as he put it in an email to USA Today, “find my sound as an adult.” The result is a collection that is as notable for its spare, giddy beats as the spiritual searching outlined in its lyrics. It was the first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 in three decades and shattered records for streaming and download sales.
The record includes writing and production credits from a slew of 2010s heavy hitters, including EDM wizard Skrillex, electro-pop architect BloodPop, hit machine Benny Blanco, busker-turned-arena-headliner Ed Sheeran and many others. It has chart gold with the soaring “What Do You Mean?” and the rancorous cut, “Love Yourself,” which updates the guy-and-guitar setup Bieber had in his online-sensation days while singing about grownup relationship complexities.
Besides his own hits, Bieber’s been a major draw on big productions by DJs like Major Lazer and David Guetta, as well as a top-charting guest in the R&B genre with artists such as Usher and Kanye West. Around 70% of his streams and record sales are from overseas, making him Def Jam’s biggest international moneymaker by a wide margin.