Justin Bieber Biography

Pop celebrity and performer Justin Bieber was born in 1994 in Ontario. He was raised by his young, single mother, who was only seventeen at the time of his birth, and his grandparents. As a young child, Justin Bieber was rather quiet about his musical talents and dreams, teaching himself to play trumpet, drums, guitar, and piano. When he was only twelve, Justin performed in a singing competition and his mother captured the event on video.

So that the Bieber family and friends could see Justin’s performance, she posted the video on YouTube. As Justin continued to perform for other occasions, she continued to record and post, never anticipating that this simple act of sharing her son’s talents with family and friends would lead to his startling breakthrough. One afternoon, a marketing executive of So So Def was searching for videos of another singer, and stumbled upon Justin Bieber’s videos by accident. The rest, as they say, is history.

Justin Bieber was flown to Atlanta, Georgia to meet with Scooter Braun and the rest of his colleagues. Immediately impressed by not only Justin’s natural vocal talents, but by his self-taught instrumental skills, they signed Justin Bieber to Raymond Braun Media Group, a joint venture which also included superstar Usher.  The artist was integral in arranging for Justin Bieber’s ultimate contract with Island Records in 2008. “One Time,” Bieber’s first single, was released and charted immediately during its first week in 2009. It was ultimately certified platinum in the US, and bolstered the success of Justin’s first album, My World, released later in the same year.

My World spawned the hit singles "First Dance," "Down to Earth,” and "Bigger," and ultimately brought the album also to double platinum status in both the UK and Canada.  My World 2.0 followed in 2010, with the hit singles “U Smile,” “Baby,” “Somebody to Love,” and “Never Let You Go,” all which charted in both the US and Canada. By the summer of 2010, Justin Bieber had created not only a strong reputation as an artist and performer, but as an online phenomenon. That year, Bieber was the most often searched for celebrity on the internet, and Justin also accounted for a full three percent of all traffic filtering through the Twitter site.

Justin Bieber continued his meteoric rise to stardom with an acoustic album, My Worlds Acoustic, and then followed up with the concert/bio film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, in 2011. The DVD grossed over twelve million dollars in its opening day, and over thirty million for the opening weekend. Eventually, it went on to gross nearly one hundred million dollars worldwide. It also set the stage for the albums: Under the Mistletoe (2011), Believe (2012), and Purpose (2015), the last of which included three of his biggest hits to date—“What Do You Mean,” “Sorry,” and “Love Yourself.”

Thus far in his career, Justin Bieber has been recognized with numerous awards, including Artist of the Year for both the 2010 and 2012 American Music Awards, and a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording (for “Where Are U Now.”) Bieber most recently lent his vocals to three of the hottest hits for the summer of 2017—“Despacito” (remix version, with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee); “I’m the One” (with DJ Khaled and also featuring Lil Wayne and Chance the Rapper); and “2U” (with David Guetta.)