"New story"

From YouTube to global star: Justin Bieber turns 30

Justin Bieber with wife Hailey Bieber

(Bild: www.photopress.at)

There are professions whose half-life is generally shorter than that of normal jobs. Footballers are among them, as are models, but of course pop superstars often are too. Justin Bieber turns 30 on March 1 - but his days as a global phenomenon are over. The Canadian is still big in business, but Bieber has to ask himself: what comes after the peak?

Looking back: It all started in the early 2000s on the video platform YouTube. Anyone watching the completely tattooed singer alongside model Hailey Bieber today would hardly recognize the blond boy from the pixelated videos of that time.

Bieber was discovered by chance
Back then, he sang Chris Brown's "With You" on a sofa, with posters of rapper Tupac and cartoon character Bart Simpson hanging behind him. This twelve or 13-year-old boy from the small Canadian town of London in the province of Ontario still seems a little embarrassed in front of the camera, but he sings R&B songs with passion.

Scooter Braun was the name of the agent who, according to his own statement, accidentally clicked on one of these videos, recognized the talent and made contact with Bieber's mother Pattie Mallette via Bieber's school. He brought Bieber to Atlanta for trial recordings, where the boy met his idol Usher. With his help, the 15-year-old soon signed his first record deal with the Def Jam label and moved to Atlanta with his mother, who took care of him on her own.

Great success for the teenager
"A year later, the baby I was diapering played Madison Square Garden and sang for the President of the United States. It's crazy," Mallette once recalled in the New York Times. That year, Bieber had performed at the famous New York venue with Usher and Miley Cyrus and had sung for President Barack Obama and his family in Washington at Christmas.

Justin Bieber sang for Barack Obama and his family in Washington at Christmas when he was 15.

(Bild: APA / AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Barack Obama and his family at "Christmas in Washington" 2011.

(Bild: APA / AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB SAUL LOEB / AFP)

And that was just the beginning. Bieber's first single "One Time" and the EP "My World" were already on the market. Together with the album "My World 2.0", including the single "Baby" with rapper Ludacris, Bieber placed himself at the heart of western mainstream pop with brilliant, lively R&B vocals.

And once YouTube had made Bieber famous, the portal continued to be the yardstick of his success: "Baby" became the first video to reach more than 500 million clicks in 2011. And so it continued: Bieber followed up his great successes with "Believe" and "Purpose" in 2012 and 2015. After the hits "Boyfriend" and "Where Are Ü Now", for which he won his first Grammy with Diplo and Skrillex, collaborations became important for Bieber: his mega-hit "Despacito" with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee even became the first video to reach the five billion click mark in 2018.

They were once considered the pop scene's dream couple. Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez had an on-off relationship between 2010 and 2018.

(Bild: 2011 Getty Images)

Bieber grew up in front of the public
And Bieber is still selling hundreds of thousands of albums today - most recently "Justice" in 2021. And he has hits like "STAY" with rapper The Kid Laroi. But it seems as if the once milk-faced and tousled-haired teenager has lost a small part of his brand with every edge. Stars like Taylor Swift (34) and Miley Cyrus (31), on the other hand, continue to clean up at the Grammys and dominate pop culture.

The singer grew up under the constant gaze of the public. Headlines revolving around alcohol, expensive cars or a woman's lawsuit about his alleged paternity caused an uproar.

(Bild: www.PPS.at)

However, Twitter, TV appearances and scandals helped Bieber to turn his stage persona into a gossip celebrity. The boy with the fawn eyes grew up in front of the assembled world public. The headlines revolved around alcohol, expensive cars, a woman's complaint about his alleged paternity and neighbors whose house he allegedly threw eggs at.

In 2018, the singer married Hailey Baldwin.

(Bild: (c) www.VIENNAREPORT.at)

The singer wants to "tell a different story"
In 2018, however, Bieber married Hailey Baldwin, whom he had known for almost ten years at the time - and wanted to open a new chapter. He told Vogue a few years ago that he was thinking more about "character stuff" after the highs. Less about music and more about being a good person and a good husband.

Bieber may be in a state of upheaval - but he remains a global star. A few months ago, rapper Usher even invited him to perform with him at the Super Bowl half-time show. But Bieber declined, as Usher revealed: "I think it might be because he just wants to tell a different story at the moment."