germ@namur: Justin Bieber

Childhood

Justin Drew Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in Ontario, Canada. He was raised by a single mom, Pattie Mallette. They did not have a lot of money. When he was younger, Justin used to play chess, soccer and hockey. He received a very Christian education.

First steps on the music scene

His mother started publishing videos of him singing and playing instruments on YouTube in 2007. He is a self-taught musician; he learned to play the drums when he was 2, and taught himself to play the guitar, the piano and the trumpet too. Thanks to his videos, he was discovered by his future manager, Scooter Braun, who arranged a meeting between the 14-year-old-boy and influential American singer Usher. Justin debuted his musical career with his first single, “One time”, in 2009. He slowly started to become famous in the States, but it is with his song “Baby” that he became incredibly famous all over the world. His album My World followed, which achieved such considerable success that he soon released My world 2.0, which turned out to be even more successful.

When he turned 16, his voice began to break so that he does not today have the “voice of a little girl” anymore. He cannot any longer sing some of his first hits.

Two movies have been made about Bieber’s career and about the behind-the-scene aspects of the pop star’s life. The following albums have confirmed his talent and success, “Boyfriend”, “Journals” and “Purpose”, mainly thanks to the 2015 singles “Sorry”, “What do you mean” and “Love yourself”. The star has now become inescapable, with millions of “Beliebers” addicted to his songs.

Relation with Selena Gomez

In December 2010, Justin Bieber started dating singer Selena Gomez. They ended their relation several times. The latest breakup was in 2014. Since then, there have still been a lot of gossips about their relation. He has not had any more official relationships since then, but is often seen with girls.

Justice issues

Since 2012, the popstar has had to face justice on various occasions, but nothing serious until he was arrested in 2014 in Florida on suspicion of driving under the influence of marijuana and because he was driving without his license. A report revealed traces of cannabis and Xanax (an anti-anxiety medication) in his blood. He also committed less important offences such as egging: the damage was evaluated at up to 20 000 dollars.

Nowadays, his wealth is currently estimated at 200 million and it increases by 70 million dollars per year. With all this amount of money the pop star has been able to buy different mansions round the world and a big collection of cars.

Canadian VS. American star

Justin Bieber, even though he was born in Canada, is considered as an American star because, as mentioned before, he started his career in the United States. However, he is still very appreciated in Canada too. He has sold so many records that he is now one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Moreover, he has won many prizes in the United States, whereas he barely won any in Canada.

Conclusion

Despite his popularity with the public, he is not appreciated by everyone: neither his neighbours or his co-workers seem to like him. He is known to be difficult and diva-like because of his drugs and alcohol problems as said before and also for his aggressive behaviour with photographers. It was because he was going through his teenage crisis.