Justin Drew Bieber, known to his fans as Justin Bieber, was born on March 1, 1994 in London, Ontario, at St Joseph’s Hospital. Raised in Stratford, Ontario, the Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor is the only child of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Pattie Mallette. While Bieber’s parents were never married, and his mother was underage when she gave birth, Bieber was fortunate to be raised with the help of his mother’s parents, Diane and Bruce.
A Stratford Boy
Identified as French-Canadian, Irish, English, Scottish, and German, Bieber grew up largely working-class in low-income housing – his mother having to take on a number of low-paying office jobs to make ends-meet. As a child living in Stratford, Bieber attended a French-language immersion elementary school, and he also learned how to play a variety of musical instruments: piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.
In early 2007, at the age 12, Bieber signed up to be in a local singing competition where he sang a cover rendition of R&B singer Ne-Yo’s “So Sick.” While the young singer only placed second in the competition, the performance was the beginning of his now infamous YouTube career with the help of his mother. As Bieber began to post clips of his R&B vocals on YouTube, he had no idea that the music videos – which were originally only intended for their family and friends to see – would grow in popularity. As his YouTube career grew, locals could still find a young Bieber busking in front of the Avon Theatre steps during tourism season.
Once Bieber reached the age of 13, he was discovered by talent manager Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def Recordings, who had been watching his YouTube cover song videos religiously after clicking on a 2007 YouTube video by accident. Braun, a Jewish American, was so impressed by Bieber’s talent that he decided to track down the young singer.
Bieber’s mother, a devout Christian, was reluctant, claiming:
“God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label! God, you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?”
Despite her doubt, Mallette’s church elders convinced her to let Bieber go with Braun to Atlanta, Georgia to record his demo tapes. A week later, Bieber was singing in front of R&B sensation Usher and Island/Def Jam chairman L.A. Reid.
Justin’s World
Signed to RBMG Records in 2008, Bieber released his debut EP, My World, in late 2009. At the youthful age of 15, My World was the debut album that made Bieber the first time artist to have seven songs from a debut record chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200. Among the recordings on the album was his smash-hit “One Time” which went platinum in both Canada and the U.S.
Less than a year after his debut EP was released, Bieber returned with a second installment – My World 2.0. By this release, it was clear that Bieber had mesmerized young fans with over 8,000 fans who pre-ordered the album. These 8,000 fans submitted their head shots, which were then used in a photo mosaic to look like a portrait of Bieber.
The photo was included on the back side of the disc’s booklet. My World 2.0 featured a performance from the rapper Ludacris, and featured Bieber’s first single and hit single to reach the Top Ten of the Canadian and U.S. Hot 100 singles charts.
Not only did this album generate a massive fan base, but the Bieber’s success also allowed for the creation of a remix compilation, an acoustic set, a concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say never (the 3-D documentary Never Say Never), which was one of the best dance recordings, and additional studio recordings, and third proper album Purpose (also 2015), which led to four nominations from Recording Academy voters, including Song of the Year (for “Love Yourself”) and number one Album of the Year and American Music Award for Favorite Song Pop/Rock.
By the end of the 2010s, Bieber had added to his hits as a featured artist with a remix of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” DJ Khaled’s “I’m the One” and “No Brainer,” David Guetta’s “2U,” Ed Sheeran’s “I Don’t Care,” and Dan + Shay’s “10,000 Hours.” His evolution as an R&B-inspired, stylistically flexible pop artist has since continued with the chart-topping Changes (2020).
By 2012, Bieber delivered the album Believe (along with its deluxe and acoustic versions) – which featured some of his hottest features yet: fellow Canadian artist Drake, Ludacris, Big Sean, and Nicki Minaj. By 2015, Bieber had been secured in the minds of the public as a bonafide pop star. The release of his follow-up album, Purpose, made the Canadian singer/songwriter a chart-topper as well as a Grammy awards success – winning in two of the “big four” categories that year.
After spending the first half of 2016 on a world tour in support of Purpose, Bieber continued collaborating with artists across a multitude of genres: Major Lazer, DJ Snake, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, DJ Khaled, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, David Guetta, Ed Sheeran, and Dan + Shay. Over the next four years, Bieber continued to work on documentary segments, his fashion line, and his new studio album Changes which featured headlining singles such as “Yummy” and “Intentions” featuring Quavo of the Migos.
And yet, while Bieber was successful, he was also troubled. On the one hand, he was being very careless with his health. On the other hand, the popstar was also engaging in extremely destructive behaviour – some of which included being caught with drugs, excessively partying, and being caught peeing in a bucket in the broad daylight. When asked by the press about his health and his behaviour, Bieber stated:
“I don’t know if I’d be alive, for sure. It was dark, really dark. I was really tired emotionally, physically, and I was sick, and I didn’t realize I was sick. So, I had Epstein-Barr, which is like, it’s called Mono. And then I have Lyme disease. So it was that, it was just the exhaustion of just being on tour, and then it was just everything compounded I think, to be honest.”
While Bieber’s climb to fame was filled with highs, by late 2019, it was also clear that he had endured many lows as well.
Jelena
Like most pop stars, fans (beliebers) became particularly obsessed with who Bieber was dating all throughout his career. Bieber has been the boyfriend and tied to a long line of young models, actresses and singers: Baskin Champion, Jasmine Villegas, Barbara Palvin, Miranda Kerr, Chantel Jeffries, Adriana Lima, Nicola Peltz, Sofia Richie, and even Kourtney Kardashian from Calabasas, near Los Angeles, of Keeping Up With the Kardashians fame. But perhaps the most popular of his girlfriends was his on-and-off love, Selena Gomez who first garnered fame for her roles on the Disney Channel of the United States.
As a couple, Justin and Selena were known to their loving fans as “Jelena.” They were constantly captured by the media and even in their own social media photos and tweets taking long strolls and bike rides together, hugging in birthday photos, and eating pancakes together among other activities.
Fans were monitoring their relationship at every step, even during their many breakups. The couple had become so serious that Bieber’s mother told People in December 2017:
“I support anything [he does], if he loves her, I love her.”
Gomez’s family however were never really big fans of the couple’s relationship – the press alleged that the couple’s second split was a result of their disapproval.
Dating Selena Gomez
While Bieber has had many famous girlfriends, the one he decided to wed was Hailey Baldwin – the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin. The trajectory to Baldwin was not entirely smooth however, having dated her more than once and in between other entanglements with Gomez.
While the two first met in 2009 at a fan meet-and-greet (which was caught on video), Bieber was first romantically linked to Baldwin in 2016. The rumors of the two dating however began circulating the year prior – to which Bieber quickly responded that they were only that: rumors.
Bieber took to Instagram to say:
“People are crazy. I’m super single and this is my good friend you would know otherwise.”
By 2016, fans and haters alike watched as the couple rang in a second New Year’s together. Bieber even teased in a GQ cover story:
“What if Hailey ends up being the girl, I’m gonna marry, right?”
What has since been described as a teaser of their engagement did not go unnoticed by Bieber’s fans, and neither did an Instagram post from Baldwin which described issues of honesty and blame. At the time, fans of “Jelena” claimed that Baldwin was chiming in on Bieber’s drama with Gomez. After the series of posts, Bieber reportedly unfollowed Baldwin on the platform and later decided to delete his account entirely.
From ‘Jelena’ to ‘Jailey’
Eventually Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin rekindled their romance – and like “Jelena,” were also crowned with a new couple name: ““Jailey.” The two were pictured going to church and clubs together and kissing in the New York City sun. As their romance heated up, so too did their vacation spots – including the place where Bieber would eventually propose to Baldwin: the Bahamas.
After the couple confirmed their engagement, TMZ shared their heartfelt Instagram post where Bieber wrote:
“Was gonna wait a while to say anything but word travels fast, listen plain and simple Hailey I am soooo in love with everything about you! So, committed to spending my life getting to know every single part of you patiently and kindly.” Baldwin quickly tweeted about the engagement as well, writing: “Not sure what I did in life to deserve such happiness, but I am so utterly grateful to God for giving me such an incredible person to share my life with!”
Spiritual Connection
By February 2019, the couple decided to bring fans into their world by doing their first ever Vogue cover interview. The couple opened up about going to therapy together to work on their relationship, waiting until marriage to have sex, their previous split, and reconciling with the help of members of their church.
Prior to their 2019 interview Bieber was on record saying that he had been celibate for more than a year because he had experienced a “legitimate problem with sex.” Bieber claimed that abstaining from sexual intercourse made him feel closer to God. Justin told the press:
“I think sex can cause a lot of pain. Sometimes people have sex because they don’t feel good enough. Because they lack self-worth. Women do that, and guys do that. I wanted to rededicate myself to God in that way because I really felt it was better for the condition of my soul. And I believe that God blessed me with Hailey as a result. There are perks. You get rewarded for good behavior.”
When discussing the entirety of their relationship with Vogue Magazine, Baldwin said:
“The common denominator, I promise you, is always church. By then we were past the drama. I just gave him a hug. By the end of the conference, he was like, ‘We’re not going to be friends.’ I was like, ‘We’re not?’”
Baldwin confirmed that weeks after this discussion, the two were engaged. Despite the cover story, a month later, Us Weekly was reporting that “Jailey” were going through “a hard time” in their marriage. By the middle of March, Baldwin had had enough of the rumors and took to her Instagram platform to say:
“Don’t believe what ya read on the internet folks.”
Mr. And Mrs. Bieber
By the fall of 2019, details began to emerge about the “Jailey” matrimonial ceremony – the second of two ceremonies which occurred at Somerset Chapel in South Carolina. People Magazine reported that the couple exchanged their vows before 154 guests while they took in a beautiful sunset.
Hailey Bieber wore Off White’s Virgil Abloh (with the dress’ train reading “till death do us part”), Bieber wore a CELINE tux, and as you might imagine, they also exchanged pricey wedding rings. While the two didn’t rush away on a honeymoon, and reports suggest that they skipped it entirely at the time, a source told People Magazine:
“For Justin and Hailey, every day is like a honeymoon.”
Justin Bieber’s work life, creative life, and social life have all been public knowledge since becoming a teen heart throb. He has basked in the success of songs such as Under the Mistletoe, Where are U now, and What do you mean. But, now with the importance that GOD and his marriage have in his life, it appears he has found the balance he needs to embark on the next chapter of his adult life.
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