Justin Bieber is a world-famous artist who has been around for a decade and has seen his fair share of controversy in addition to success. Unfortunately with child stars, it is hard to adapt and grow up in the spotlight. Many tend to have substance abuse issues and fade away into irrelevancy but Justin Bieber has adapted quite well.
Although he has had his own struggles with depression and substance abuse issues that have been highly publicized and speculated about throughout the years, his staying power will overcome any need for him to take a break from performing.
Discovered On YouTube
Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube by Scooter Braun when he was just 13 years old. The young, aspiring musician would sing cover songs in such a way that truly made him stand out to Braun.
In fact, he was so enamored with the young singer’s talents that he found where he was going to school and contacted his mother Patti Mallette and they flew down to Atlanta, Georgia to get to work on some demo tapes.
A week after Bieber’s initial meeting with Braun, he started singing for the famous R&B singer Usher. Initially, Bieber’s mother was reluctant to have her son sign with Braun’s label considering he was Jewish and she and Justin are Christian. Luckily for the singer, she changed her mind and both her and her son’s life were changed for the better.
Rise to Fame
Justin Bieber’s first single ‘One Time” was released while Bieber was still recording his debut album. The song featured a cameo by Usher and blew up overnight turning Bieber into a megastar. It charted immediately on the Canadian Hot 100 charts and landed itself at number 12. In America, the song reached number 17 on the Billboard Charts. Later that year, his second single “One Less Lonely Girl” immediately began to chart and solidified the young star as a hitmaker.
Disappointed Fans
Throughout the years, Justin has released an array of hit albums that have engrossed quite a few million dollars for him and his record label. With the tours associated with each album release, Justin got a taste of super fame that he wasn’t necessarily comfortable with. His young fans paid a premium for backstage meet and greet passes.
Those meet and greets proved to be a grueling part of his celebrity and affected his mental health. In 2016, he canceled all his meet and greets citing on his Instagram that he struggles with depression and exhaustion after each one. Fans were slightly disappointed considering they dropped a whopping $2,000 to meet the young star. Fans were outraged at the announcement considering they paid a premium to meet the star and couldn’t even get their money back. The concert venue even said that there would be no partial refunds granted.
This announcement followed years of personal struggles for the star. Considering he had huge access to wealth, Justin did a lot of frivolous spending which is to be expected for someone that is a millionaire at 19.
He decided to get a pet monkey. While he was traveling to Germany, the monkey was seized at the airport and placed in quarantine, and then transported to a local zoo. Later that year, Justin was reported by his neighbors in his gated community in Calabasas to have been speeding throughout the neighborhood. When questioned by authorities the singer denied that he had been speeding.
In retaliation, he egged a neighbors house and was required to serve probation as a result. He was also filmed urinating in a bucket at the back of a restaurant saying “Fuck Bill Clinton.” He later contacted Bill Clinton and apologized to the former president privately.
Legal Trouble
In January of 2014, Justin was arrested for drag racing in Miami, Florida. When pulled over by the police he was heard saying “What the Fuck Did I Do?” and was given a field sobriety test. There he was deemed too drunk to drive and was charged with drunk driving and resisting arrest.
According to the police, Bieber wouldn’t follow their commands at keeping his hands on his vehicle. Considering he was only 19 at the time, his fans saw this as a cry for help. The singer appeared before the judge via a video link and was released on a $2,500 bond. The singer decided that when he was released, the appropriate response would be to strut out of jail in all black.
There he mimicked Michael Jackson and sat on top of Cadillac Escalade and waved at his screaming fans outside.
Law enforcement stated that the singer also had previous complaints from residents of Miami that police were seen escorting the singer and a slew of his famous friends to various strip clubs. Allegedly the police department opened up an investigation into who escorted the singer considering he was only 19 years old at the time.
In 2012, Justin Bieber was dating the singer/songwriter and actress Selena Gomez. Their whirlwind romance caught the world by storm and fans went wild on the internet speculating just exactly what the relationship was like between the two singers. Tabloids didn’t help with the rumor spreading, considering the two stars were mega-rich and extremely successful. The paparazzi followed the two singers around everywhere and Justin allegedly had enough. It is reported that the singer got in a confrontation with one of the photographers and they tried to press charges against the young star.
Mental Health Break
Justin Bieber decided to take a break from the music industry in early 2019. He cited that he struggles with depression and wanted to get his life together before making another album. He wrote a poignant essay on Instagram documenting his struggles with fame.
He stated that he had access to a lot of money and drugs when he was very young and as a result, he didn’t acquire the skills he needed to live a normal life in the real world. He said that he has been performing most of his life and requires a much-needed break.
He said on his Instagram that he made a lot of bad choices and is just now feeling the aftermath of fame. “I made every bad decision you could have thought of and went from one of the most loved and adored people in the world to the most ridiculed, judged, and hated person in the world…. “It’s hard to get out of bed in the morning…when it feels like there’s trouble after trouble after trouble,” he wrote. “Sometimes it can even get to the point where you don’t even want to live anymore. Where you feel like it’s never going to change.”
Justin Bieber then went on to discuss that he is currently doing well and credits his family, friends, and his wife Haley Bieber for being the support system he needed to get through dark and turbulent times.
“It’s taken me years to bounce back from all of these terrible decisions, fix broken relationships, and change relationship habits…Luckily, God blessed me with extraordinary people who love me for me,” he added. “Now I am navigating the best season of my life ‘MARRIAGE’!!”
Back to Music
Justin Bieber released his fifth studio album on February 14, 2020. Although the album was met with mixed reviews by music critics, his song “Yummy” charted right after it dropped. The song is allegedly about his wife Haley Baldwin and is a bouncy pop song. Regardless of his past, Justin Bieber has proven himself as a rising star that won’t burn out any time soon.
Sources:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B17JfkkHEKt/?utm_source=ig_embed
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49562637
https://www.insider.com/justin-bieber-taking-break-from-music-due-to-mental-health-2019-3
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