who is justin bieber?

Justin Drew Bieber (/ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to American singer Usher, both of whom formed the record label RBMG Records to sign Bieber in October of that year. He gained recognition following the release of his debut extended play (EP) My World (2009), which was quickly met with international commercial success and led to his establishment as a prominent teen idol.

Bieber was ushered into mainstream stardom with his teen pop-driven debut studio album, My World 2.0 (2010), which debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and made him the youngest solo male act to do so in 47 years. The album was supported by the single “Baby” (featuring Ludacris), which became one of the best selling singles of all time. His second studio album, Under the Mistletoe (2011), became the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut atop chart and saw continued success. Bieber experimented with dance-pop on his third studio album, Believe (2012); its acoustic re-release made him the first artist in Billboard history to have five US number-one albums by the age of 18. From 2013–14, Bieber was involved in multiple controversies and legal issues, which led to a tarnishing of his public image.

In 2015, Bieber explored EDM on “Where Are Ü Now” (with Jack Ü), which won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording. This influenced his fourth album Purpose (2015), which yielded three Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: “Love Yourself,” “Sorry”, and “What Do You Mean?”. He made UK chart history when each of which simultaneously held the top three spots on the country’s chart. His guest performances on the 2017 singles “I’m the One” by DJ Khaled and “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi both peaked the Billboard Hot 100 and made Bieber among the few artists to replace himself atop the chart. The latter also earned him a Latin Grammy Award. His 2019 single, “10,000 Hours” (with Dan + Shay) won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. His R&B-inspired fifth album Changes (2020), debuted at number one in both the UK and US, while his standalone duet single “Stuck with U” (with Ariana Grande) debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100. His sixth album, Justice (2021) was supported by the worldwide hit “Peaches” and topped the Billboard 200, breaking Elvis Presley’s 1965 record for the youngest solo act to have eight US number-one albums. His eighth US number one single, “Stay” (with the Kid Laroi) was released that same year.

Bieber is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 150 million records worldwide. He is credited with four diamond certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Grammy Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, eight Juno Awards, two Brit Awards, 26 Billboard Music Awards, 18 American Music Awards, 22 MTV Europe Music Awards (the most wins for any artist), 23 Teen Choice Awards (the most wins for a male individual), and 33 Guinness World Records. Time named Bieber one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011, and he was included on Forbes‘ list of the top ten most powerful celebrities in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Early life

Justin Drew Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ontario, and was raised in Stratford. He is the son of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Pattie Mallette, who were both 18 when Bieber was born, and split up not long after his birth. Pattie worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Mallette’s mother Diane and stepfather Bruce helped her raise her son. Bieber has maintained contact with his father. Bieber’s ancestry includes French-Canadian, Irish, English, Scottish, and German.In 2012, Bieber claimed “I’m actually part Indian. I think Inuit or something? I’m enough per cent that in Canada I can get free gas”, sparking criticism from Congress of Aboriginal Peoples for perpetuating misconceptions about Indigenous people.

Bieber has three younger half-siblings; the four have the same father, Jeremy Bieber. Jeremy Bieber and his ex-girlfriend, Erin Wagner, who broke up in 2014 after seven years together, have two children, daughter Jazmyn and son Jaxon. Jeremy married his girlfriend Chelsey in February 2018, and they have a daughter named Bay.Bieber also has a stepsister named Allie, the daughter of his stepmother. Bieber attended two French-language immersion elementary schools in Stratford, Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School and Bedford Public School. In grades 7 and 8, he attended Stratford Northwestern. Former teacher, Kim Booker often recalled fond memories of Bieber as her student, and is featured in several interviews. He attended Stratford’s St. Michael Catholic Secondary School, and graduated in 2012with a 4.0 GPA.

Growing up, he learned to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet. In early 2007, aged 12, Bieber performed Ne-Yo’s “So Sick” for a local singing competition in Stratford, in which he placed second. Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber’s popularity on the site grew. In the same year, Bieber busked shows in front of the Avon Theatre steps with a rented guitar during tourism season.

Career

2007–2009: Career beginnings and My World

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def Recordings, clicked on one of Bieber’s 2007 YouTube videos by accident.Impressed, Braun tracked down the theatre Bieber was performing at, located Bieber’s school, and finally contacted his mother Mallette, who was initially reluctant because of Braun’s Judaism. She remembered praying, “God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label!”, and, “God, you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?” However, church elders convinced her to let Bieber go with Braun. At age 13, Bieber went to Atlanta with Braun to record demo tapes. Bieber began singing for Usher one week later.

Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher. Justin Timberlake was reportedly also in the running to sign Bieber but lost the bidding war to Usher, partly due to the idea that two associated Justins would confuse the market.

Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact L.A. Reid of The Island Def Jam Music Group. Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive vice-president of Def Jam, where he could manage Bieber’s career at the label. Bieber then moved to Atlanta with his mother to pursue further work with Braun and Usher. Braun became Bieber’s manager in 2008.

Bieber’s first single, “One Time”, was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album.The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009, and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. During fall 2009, it had success in international markets. The song was certified platinum in Canada and the US and gold in Australia and New Zealand.His first release, an extended play titled My World, was released on November 17, 2009. The album’s second single, “One Less Lonely Girl”, and two promotional singles, “Love Me” and “Favorite Girl”, were released exclusively on the iTunes Store and charted within the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100. As a result, he became the first solo artist to have four singles chart in the top 40 of the Hot 100 before the release of a debut album.

“One Less Lonely Girl” was later also released to radio and peaked within the top 20 in Canada and the US, and was certified gold in the latter. Following the release of My World, Bieber became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100. My World was eventually certified platinum in the US and double platinum in both Canada and the United Kingdom. To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU’s VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV’s The Next Star, The Today Show, The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It’s On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET’s 106 & Park. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.

Bieber performed Ron Miller and Bryan Wells’s “Someday at Christmas” for US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which aired on December 20, 2009, on US television broadcaster TNT. Bieber was also one of the performers for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, on December 31, 2009.

2010–2011: My World 2.0, Never Say Never, and Under the Mistletoe

Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of the charity single “We Are the World” for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version.

On March 12, 2010, a version of K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag”, recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti, was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.

In January 2010, “Baby” was released from his debut album My World 2.0. The song featured Ludacris, and became an international hit. It charted at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaked at number three on the Canadian Hot 100 and reached the top ten in several international markets. Two promo singles, “Never Let You Go” and “U Smile”, were top 30 hits on the US Hot 100, and top 20 hits in Canada. According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received generally favourable reviews. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963. My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart and reached the top 10 of fifteen other countries.

To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including The View, the 2010 Kids’ Choice Awards, Nightline, Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 & Park. Sean Kingston appeared on the album’s next single “Eenie Meenie”. The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the top 20 of most other markets. On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City. The following single from My World 2.0, “Somebody to Love”, was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber’s mentor Usher. On June 23, 2010, Bieber went on his first official headlining tour, the My World Tour, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote My World and My World 2.0. In May 2010, Bieber featured in Soulja Boy’s song “Rich Girl”. In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched-for celebrity on the Internet. That same month, his music video for “Baby” surpassed Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” (2009) as the most viewed, and also the most disliked, YouTube video at the time. In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for 3% of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.

On My World 2.0, Bieber’s voice was noted to be deeper than it was in his debut EP, due to puberty. In April 2010, the singer remarked regarding his vocals: “It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I’m dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world … Some of the notes I hit on “Baby” I can’t hit any more. We have to lower the key when I sing live.” Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the CBS American crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which aired on September 23, 2010. He played a “troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother”, who is also a serial bomber. Bieber was also in a subsequent episode of the series, which aired on February 17, 2011, in which his character is killed. Bieber performed a medley of his singles “U Smile”, “Baby”, and “Somebody to Love”, and briefly played the drums, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would be releasing an acoustic album, called My Worlds Acoustic. It was released on November 26, 2010, in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a new song titled “Pray”. In October 2010, Bieber released his first book, Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story, an autobiography with text from Bieber and photographs from Robert Caplin.

A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, was released on February 11, 2011, directed by Step Up 3D director Jon M. Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated gross of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theatres.^[80] It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy Just Go with It, which grossed $31 million.^[81] Never Say Never reportedly exceeded industry expectations, nearly matching the $31.1 million grossed by Miley Cyrus’s 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which holds the record for the top debut for a music-documentary. Never Say Never grossed a total of $99,034,125 worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing concert or performance film at the global box office. The film is accompanied by his second remix album, Never Say Never – The Remixes, released February 14, 2011, and features remixes of songs from his debut album, with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others. Bieber was a participating player in the 2011 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, held on February 18, 2011, and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP), scoring eight points (3–11 FG) with two rebounds and four assists. In June 2011, an album track from Never Say Never titled “That Should Be Me” (featuring Rascal Flatts), won him his first award in country music for Collaborative Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards. Time magazine named Bieber one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list. In June 2011, Bieber was ranked No. 2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30. He is the youngest star, and 1 of 7 musicians on the list, having raked in $53 million in a 12-month period. The same month, his collaborative single “Next to You” with American singer Chris Brown was released. The unfinished video for that song was leaked online on June 6, and the official video was released on June 17.

On November 1, 2011, Bieber released the Christmas-themed Under the Mistletoe, his second studio album. It became the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and sold 210,000 copies in its first week of release.^[8] On November 19, 2021, the album was listed among the Greatest of All Time Top Holiday Albums chart by Billboard. The first single from the album, “Mistletoe” peaked at number one on the US Billboard Holiday 100 and Holiday Digital Songs charts. Bieber released “All I Want for Christmas Is You (SuperFestive!)” as the second single from the album, which is a re-recorded version of Mariah Carey’s original single, “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, with Carey providing vocals on the track. Billboard listed the album and its singles, among the greatest Holiday albums and songs of all time, respectively.

2012–2014: Believe, Journals, and other appearances

In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, titled Believe. The following week, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce that the first single would be called “Boyfriend”, and was released on March 26, 2012.The song debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, selling a total of 521,000 digital units, the second-highest-ever debut digital sales week. Bill Werde of Billboard noted that it failed to debut at number one because the digital download of the track was available only through the iTunes Store, “restricting the buying option for those [who] do not frequent the Apple retail store”.^[97] “Boyfriend” became Bieber’s first single ever to reach the top position on the Canadian Hot 100 by debuting at number one and staying on for one week. Bieber was featured on American hip hop group Far East Movement’s song “Live My Life”, from their fourth studio album, Dirty Bass, in February 2012. The song emerged online five days before its scheduled release date and peaked within the top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100. The first promotional single from the album, “Die in Your Arms”, was released on May 29, 2012, and the second promotional single, “All Around the World” (featuring American rapper Ludacris), followed the next week. The second single from Believe, “As Long as You Love Me” (featuring Big Sean), was released on June 11, 2012. It peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100.

His third studio album, Believe, was released on June 19, 2012, by Island Records. The album marked a musical departure from the teen pop sound of his previous releases, and incorporated elements of dance-pop and R&B genres.Intent on developing a more “mature” sound, Bieber collaborated with a wide range of urban producers for the release as well as some long-time collaborators, including Darkchild, Hit-Boy, Diplo, and Max Martin. Entertainment Weekly praised Bieber’s musical shift, calling the album both a “reinvention and a reintroduction”. Rolling Stone noted the deeper voice and more “intense” beats found on the album, although it lampooned one of his euphemisms for newfound sexual maturity (“If you spread your wings, you can fly away with me”). Believe debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming his fourth number-one album.The album sold 57,000 copies in its first week in Canada, debuting atop the Canadian Albums Chart. In September 2012, Bieber was featured on “Beautiful”, a song from Carly Rae Jepsen’s second studio album Kiss.^[109] In October 2012, the third single from Believe, “Beauty and a Beat” (featuring Nicki Minaj), was released. The music video held the record for the most video views in 24 hours when it was released, with 10.6 million views.^[

The Believe Tour, which further promoted the album, began in September 2012 in Glendale, Arizona. On December 14, 2012, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he announced plans to release an acoustic album titled Believe Acoustic, which was released on January 29, 2013. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Bieber the first artist in history to have five number-one albums in the US before turning 19.

Bieber returned to Saturday Night Live as the host and musical guest on the February 9, 2013 episode. His appearance was panned by critics and cast members, including Kate McKinnon, who said Bieber was not comfortable with his hosting duties, and Bill Hader, who said he did not enjoy the presence of Bieber or his entourage. Hader added that in his eight years on the television program, Bieber was the only host who lived up to his reputation.

On March 7, 2013, Bieber fainted backstage at London’s O2 Arena after complaining of breathing problems throughout his concert performance and was taken to the hospital. Bieber cancelled his second Lisbon, Portugal concert at the Pavilhão Atlântico, which was to be held on March 12, because of low ticket sales. The concert held in the same venue on March 11 did go on as scheduled.In mid-August 2013, a remixed duet version of Michael Jackson’s previously unreleased song “Slave to the Rhythm”, featuring Bieber, leaked online. In response to criticism over this remix, the Michael Jackson Estate stated that it had not authorized the release of this recording, and has since made attempts to remove the song from as many web sites and YouTube channels as possible. Later, a song titled “Twerk” by rapper Lil Twist, featuring Bieber as well as Miley Cyrus, also leaked In September, Bieber was featured in Maejor Ali’s song “Lolly” with rapper Juicy J. A music video for “Melodies”, the debut single of American singer Madison Beer, was released in the same month featuring Bieber in a cameo appearance.

On October 3, 2013, Bieber announced that he would release a new song every Monday for 10 weeks as a lead-up to the film Justin Bieber’s Believe, which entered production in May 2012 and was released on December 25, 2013. The film is a follow-up to Bieber’s first theatrical film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, with Jon M. Chu returning as director. The first song of Music Mondays, “Heartbreaker”, was released on October 7. The second song, “All That Matters”, was released on October 14, followed by “Hold Tight” on October 21, “Recovery” on October 28, “Bad Day” on November 4, and “All Bad” on November 11. The seventh song, “PYD” (featuring R. Kelly), was released on November 18; it was followed by “Roller Coaster” on November 25, and “Change Me” on December 2. The final song, “Confident” (featuring Chance the Rapper), was released on December 9, 2013. That same day, it was announced that all 10 tracks would be featured on the compilation album Journals, which would also feature five additional unreleased songs, a music video for “All That Matters”, and a trailer for Believe. Journals was only available for purchase via iTunes for a limited time: from December 23, 2013, to January 9, 2014. The titles of the five new additional songs are: “One Life”, “Backpack” (featuring Lil Wayne), “What’s Hatnin'” (featuring Future), “Swap It Out”, and “Memphis” (featuring Big Sean and Diplo). Bieber released a song titled “Home to Mama” (featuring Cody Simpson) in November 2014 The same month, Bieber topped Forbes magazine’s Forbes 30 Under 30 annual ranking, which lists the highest-earning celebrities under 30 for that year.

Because of the disbanding of Universal Music’s division, The Island Def Jam Music Group, in April 2014, Bieber and a number of artists were subsequently transferred to another Universal Music-related division, Def Jam Recordings, causing Bieber to no longer be signed to Island Records.

2015–2017: Purpose

In February 2015, Bieber released “Where Are Ü Now”, a collaboration with Jack Ü. The song peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. It earned Bieber his career-first Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.  In March 2015, Bieber made an appearance in the music video for Carly Rae Jepsen’s single “I Really Like You”.

In March 2015, Bieber was the featured roastee in Comedy Central’s annual roast special, and was a contestant on the reality competition series Lip Sync Battle. Bieber filmed an episode for the Fox TV reality series Knock Knock Live, and aired before the show was cancelled after two episodes.^[137] On August 28, 2015, Bieber released a new single titled “What Do You Mean?” as the lead single from his fourth studio album, Purpose. The song is a blend of teen pop, electronic dance music and acoustic R&B.^[138] It debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became Bieber’s first number-one single in the country.^[139] He set a Guinness World Record by becoming the youngest solo male artist to debut at the top of the Hot 100. It also broke the record for the fastest song to reach number one on US iTunes, reaching the top spot in under 5 minutes.^[141] On September 4, 2015, Bieber was co-featured alongside Young Thug on the album track “Maria I’m Drunk”, from Travis Scott’s debut studio album Rodeo. On October 23, 2015, Bieber released the album’s second single titled “Sorry”, which debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. After eight non-consecutive weeks at number two, on the week charting January 23, 2016, “Sorry” climbed to the top of the chart and became Bieber’s second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.^[142] The third single from Purpose, “Love Yourself” also peaked at number one in the US, making Bieber the first male artist in almost a decade to have three number-ones from an album since Justin Timberlake, who did it previously with his second studio album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, in 2006–07.^[143] He also became the first solo artist to chart three solo songs in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously, and the first as a lead act since the Beatles in 1964.^[144] “Love Yourself” topped Billboard‘s Year-End Hot 100 chart in 2016, followed by “Sorry” at number two, and made Bieber only the third artist in history to hold the top-two positions of the Billboard Year-End Hot 100, after the Beatles in 1964 and Usher in 2004.^[145] An album track on Purpose, “Company”, was announced as the fourth single on March 8, 2016.^[146] On February 12, 2016, Bieber’s first four albums were released on vinyl for the first time.^[147]

Purpose was released on November 13, 2015, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming Bieber’s sixth album to debut at the top of that chart.^[148][149] It was the fourth best-selling album of 2015 with worldwide sales of 3.1 million copies.^[150] As of June 2016, it had sold 4.5 million copies globally.^[151] On November 11, 2015, Bieber announced that he would embark on the Purpose World Tour. The worldwide concert tour started in Seattle, Washington on March 9, 2016.^[152] Bieber was the headliner at the 2015 Jingle Bell Ball held by Capital FM, on December 6, 2015.

On January 8, 2016, Bieber made UK chart history by becoming the first artist to occupy the entire top three of the UK Singles Chart. He achieved this feat as “Love Yourself”, “Sorry” and “What Do You Mean?” charted at positions 1, 2 and 3 simultaneously.^[153] On May 13, 2016, he was co-featured alongside Towkio on the album track “Juke Jam”, from Chance the Rapper’s third mixtape Coloring Book. On July 22, 2016, Bieber released a new single with EDM trio Major Lazer and Danish singer MØ titled “Cold Water”. It debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bieber’s third number-two debut on the ranking, passing Mariah Carey’s record to become the artist with the most number-two debuts in the US at the time.^[154] In August 2016, Bieber was featured on French DJ DJ Snake’s single “Let Me Love You”. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.^[155] Bieber was also featured on American rapper Post Malone’s single “Deja Vu”, which later appeared as the fourth single from the latter’s debut studio album, Stoney, in September 2016.^[156] Bieber then appeared in the documentary Bodyguards: Secret Lives from the Watchtower (2016).^[157] At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, Purpose was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, whereas “Love Yourself” received nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance respectively.^[158] Bieber was the headlining act at the 2016 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball and gave a closing performance on December 9, 2016.^[159]

2017–2019: Collaborations

On January 28, 2017, Bieber starred in the 2017 NHL Celebrity All-Star Game as a participating player, coached by Wayne Gretzky.^[160] On April 17, 2017, Puerto Rican singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee released a remix for their song “Despacito” featuring Bieber. It was the first song by Bieber in which he sings in Spanish.^[161] The remix became a worldwide success and broke major chart records around the world. The song reached number one in the US and joined “Macarena” (1996) as the only English/Spanish songs to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.^[162] It tied the then-record for the most weeks at number one in Billboard Hot 100 history. The song spent a record 56 weeks at number one on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart and broke the then-record for most weeks at number one on the Digital Songs Sales chart. The remix is the most viewed song of all time on the crowdsourced media knowledge base Genius, with 23.3 million views.^[163] The song earned Bieber his first career Latin Grammy.^[164] As of September 2021, “Despacito” holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs chart and number-five on the Greatest of All Time Songs of the Summer chart by Billboard.^[165][166]

Bieber, along with rappers Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne, provided vocals on DJ Khaled’s single “I’m the One”, released on April 28, 2017. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bieber’s second number-one debut and his fourth song to top the chart.^[167] One week later, “Despacito” topped the charts in the US, which became his fifth number-one single and made Bieber the first artist in history to notch new No. 1s in back-to-back weeks.^[168] “I’m the One” also reached number one on Billboard‘s Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.^[169] On June 9, 2017, French DJ David Guetta released “2U”, in which Bieber was featured. The first music video for “2U” features Victoria’s Secret models lip synching to the song.^{[170][171][172]} On July 24, 2017, Bieber cancelled the remaining dates of the Purpose World Tour due to “unforeseen circumstances”.^[173][174] According to Pollstar, the tour had a total gross of $257 million and 2.8 million in attendance in 162 shows, becoming one of the highest-grossing concert tours of both 2016 and 2017.^[175][176]

On August 17, 2017, Bieber released the single “Friends” with American record producer and songwriter BloodPop. Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter contributed as songwriters, having previously worked with him on “Sorry” in 2015.^[177] At the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, “Despacito” received three nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance respectively.^[178] Bieber did not attend the show to perform the nominated song, claiming that he would not make any award show appearances until his next album was finished.^[179] Bieber was a participating player in the 2018 NBA Celebrity All-Star Game, marking his second appearance at the event.^[180] In July 2018, Bieber reunited with DJ Khaled in “No Brainer”, co-featuring again with Chance the Rapper and Quavo. The single peaked in the top five of the Hot 100 and reached number one on Billboard‘s Hot R&B Songs chart.^[181] He was also featured in the accompanying music video.^[182]

On April 21, 2019, Bieber delivered a surprise performance at the 2019 Coachella music festival, marking his first live performance in two years, and teased his return to music with a new album.^[183] On May 10, 2019, British singer Ed Sheeran and Bieber released the single “I Don’t Care”, from Sheeran’s album No.6 Collaborations Project. The pair had previously collaborated, with Sheeran co-writing Bieber’s 2015 song “Love Yourself”, and 2016 song “Cold Water” with Major Lazer. “I Don’t Care” became a worldwide hit, reaching number-one in 26 countries, while peaking at number two in the United States.^[184] Bieber later featured on a remix of Billie Eilish’s breakthrough single “Bad Guy”, which was released on July 11.^[185] On October 4, 2019, Bieber and country music duo Dan + Shay released the song “10,000 Hours”, which peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[186][187] It became the highest-charting non-holiday country song in the history of the Billboard Streaming Songs chart and spent 21 weeks at number one on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. As a result, Bieber became the first act in history to reach number one on seven multi-metric charts: Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot R&B Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and Hot Rap Songs.^[188] It earned Bieber his second Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.^[14] On October 14, 2019, Bieber became the youngest solo male artist to spend 200 cumulative weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.^[189]

2020–present: Changes and Justice

On December 24, 2019, Bieber announced that he would be releasing his fifth studio album and embarking on his fourth concert tour in 2020.^[190] The album’s first single, “Yummy”, was released on January 3, 2020. It debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.^[191] On December 31, 2019, Bieber also released a trailer announcing his 10-part YouTube Originals docu-series Justin Bieber: Seasons, which focused on an array of themes: his life post-hiatus from music, marriage, preparation for new music, and battle against Lyme disease. Episodes were released weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays from January 27, 2020.^[192] The docu-series amassed 32.65 million views within its first week of release, breaking the all-time record for the most-viewed premiere in its first week of all YouTube Originals.^[193] Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 28, 2020, Bieber confirmed the release date of his fifth studio album, Changes, to be February 14, 2020.^[194] The same day, he also released a promotional single for the album, “Get Me” (featuring Kehlani).^[195] On February 7, 2020, Bieber released “Intentions” (featuring Quavo), as the second single from the album. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.^[196] Changes was released on February 14, debuting at number one on the UK and US Billboard 200 charts, making Bieber the youngest solo artist in history to have seven number-one albums in the US.^[197]

On May 8, 2020, American singer Ariana Grande and Bieber released the single “Stuck with U”, to help raise funds for the first responders of the COVID-19 pandemic and their families. The song debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his sixth number-one single in the US.^[198] On August 28, 2020, he was featured on the album track “Falling for You” from Jaden’s third studio album CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3. On September 4, 2020, Bieber played a lead starring role in the music video for DJ Khaled‘s single “Popstar” (featuring Drake).^[199] On September 18, 2020, Bieber released a collaboration with Chance the Rapper titled “Holy”, which Bieber called the start of his new era and the first single from his upcoming sixth studio album.^[200] It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. On October 15, 2020, he released “Lonely”, a collaboration with Benny Blanco as the second single from his upcoming album.^[201] The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber and J Balvin were featured on a remix of 24kGoldn’s single, “Mood”, which was released on November 6, 2020.^[202] On November 20, 2020, Shawn Mendes and Bieber released “Monster”, from Mendes’ fourth studio album Wonder.^[203] It peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.

On January 1, 2021, Bieber released the third single “Anyone”^[204] from his upcoming studio album, which peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. On February 14, 2021, Bieber performed “Journals Live” in collaboration with TikTok, which marked his first-ever performance of his 2013 album Journals. It became the first long-form concert event on the platform and broke the record for the most-viewed single-artist livestream in the platform’s history.^[205] On February 26, 2021, Bieber officially announced that his sixth studio album would be titled Justice.^[206] On March 5, 2021, Bieber released the album’s fourth single, “Hold On”, which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[207] Justice and its fifth single, “Peaches”, were both released on March 19, 2021, and met with generally positive reviews.^[208][209] It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming Bieber’s eighth number-one project, while “Peaches” debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his seventh number-one single respectively.^[210] As a result, Bieber set major records in the US. Bieber became the youngest solo artist to have eight US number-one albums, breaking a 56-year-old record held by Elvis Presley.^[211] He became the first solo male artist in history to simultaneously debut a song and an album at number one in the US. He also became the first male act to have his first 6 studio albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200.^[212]

On Easter 2021, Bieber surprise-released Freedom, a gospel-inspired EP consisting of six songs.^[213] On April 11, 2021, Justice led the Billboard 200 by less than 1,000 units, and became Bieber’s first full-length album to spend more than one week at the top of the chart in over a decade.^[214] On May 10, 2021, DJ Khaled released the single “Let It Go”, with Bieber co-featured alongside 21 Savage, from Khaled’s twelfth studio album Khaled Khaled. He also starred in the accompanying music video. On June 11, 2021, Bieber made an appearance on Migos’s fourth studio album, Culture III, on the album track “What You See”. On July 9, 2021, Bieber released a collaboration with the Kid Laroi titled “Stay”. The song debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It later peaked at number one in its fourth week on the chart, becoming his eighth number-one single in the US.^[215] “Stay” also became his 100th career entry on the chart, making him the then-youngest solo artist to chart 100 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.^[216] It also became the first song by a male foreign act to achieve a Perfect All-Kill in South Korea.^[217] “Stay” was the most-streamed song globally on Apple Music in 2022.^[218] Bieber was the headlining act for the “Freedom Experience” show at the SoFi Stadium as part of 1DayLA’s COVID-19 service event, held on July 24, 2021.^[219]

On August 13, 2021, Bieber released a remix to Nigerian singer Wizkid’s song “Essence”, his career-first song in afrobeats. It elevated the song’s position to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.^[220][221] A week later, he released a collaboration with Skrillex and Don Toliver titled “Don’t Go”.^[222] On September 4, 2021, Bieber headlined the 2021 Made in America Festival held at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. On October 8, 2021, Bieber released a new documentary film titled Justin Bieber: Our World to give viewers an inside-view in preparation for his 2020 “New Year’s Eve Live” powered by T-Mobile, his first concert performance in three years.^[223] On October 29, 2021, he released “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, a cover of Brenda Lee’s holiday classic, on streaming platforms worldwide.^[224] On November 15, 2021, Bieber announced the international legs of his upcoming fourth concert tour, the Justice World Tour, scheduled to begin in San Diego, California on February 18, 2022.^[225] On November 19, 2021, Bryson Tiller released the single “Lonely Christmas”, with Bieber co-featured alongside his long-time collaborator Poo Bear.^[226] On December 3, 2021, Bieber released a collaboration with American rapper Juice Wrld titled “Wandered to LA” as the second single from the rapper’s second posthumous album Fighting Demons. Bieber was the headlining performer at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix held on December 5, 2021, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.^[227] On December 11, 2021, he headlined the 2021 Jingle Bell Ball held by Capital FM at The O2, London. The same month, Justice received 8 nominations at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.^[228]

On January 1, 2022, Bieber set the then-record for the most monthly listeners in Spotify history, having achieved a peak of 94.68 million monthly listeners, a record broken by Canadian artist The Weeknd a year later.^[229] On February 4, 2022, he made a guest appearance on Beam’s debut studio album, Alien, on the album track “Sundown”. On February 11, 2022, Bieber headlined the “Homecoming Weekend” bash ahead of the Super Bowl in Los Angeles.^[230] On March 4, 2022, Bieber released a collaboration with Nigerian singer Omah Lay titled “Attention”.^[231] On March 28, 2022, “Ghost”, the sixth single from Justice, peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, which marked his 20th career top-five hit on the chart.^[232] The song reached number one on Billboard‘s Pop Songs chart, making Bieber the first solo male artist to have 10 number-one singles in the chart’s history.^[233] On March 30, 2022, Bieber was featured on the single “Up at Night” by Kehlani, as part of the latter’s third studio-album Blue Water Road.^[234] On April 15, 2022, Bieber gave a surprise performance with Daniel Caesar at the 2022 Coachella music festival.^[235] On April 29, 2022, Bieber released a new single titled “Honest” (featuring Don Toliver) and an accompanying music video directed by Cole Bennett.^[236] On August 27, 2022, Bieber released an exclusive single titled “Beautiful Love” for the battle royale game Garena Free Fire.^[237]

In January 2023, Bieber sold his music publishing rights and recording catalogue shares, up to the end of 2021, to the Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Fund—a sale valued at over $200 million.^[238] In the same month, Bieber was reportedly offered to be a headlining performer at Coachella 2023, but declined to focus on his upcoming seventh studio album.^[239] On February 24, 2023, Don Toliver released the single “Private Landing”, with Bieber co-featured alongside Future, from Toliver’s third studio-album Love Sick.^[240] He joined Toliver on stage at the 2023 Rolling Loud festival to deliver a surprise performance of the song.^[241] On September 15, 2023, Bieber made a guest appearance on the song “Moments” from American rapper Diddy’s fifth studio album, The Love Album: Off the Grid. The same day, he released an acoustic version of the single “Snooze” by SZA. He also starred in the official music video as the latter’s love interest.^[242]