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He was discovered by American Record industry entrepreneur Scooter Braun in 2008 through his YouTube videos. He was 14 years old at that time. And Bieber was signed with RBMG Records in the same year.

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With You - Chris Brown Cover - Justin singing

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2. Justin Bieber gained fame after his debut single “One Time”, YouTube (2009). 

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2. Justin Bieber gained fame after his debut single “One Time”, YouTube (2009). 

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It is the first single released from his debut EP, My World.

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Justin Bieber - One Time (Official Music Video)

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2008-2014: The first star image of Justin Bieber was an innocent and approachable teenage star.  He caught the eye of a lot of young girls around the world, especially young teenage girls. 

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2008-2014: The first star image of Justin Bieber was an innocent and approachable teenage star.  He caught the eye of a lot of young girls around the world, especially young teenage girls. 

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My World 2.0 is the debut studio album by Justin Bieber. It was released in 2010. The album is similar to My World in that it blends elements of teen pop and R&B.

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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He began to sing in lower keys because he began to grow. His star image hasn't changed much at this time. 

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He began to sing in lower keys because he began to grow. His star image hasn't changed much at this time. 

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5. My World Tour--the first concert tour

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5. My World Tour--the first concert tour

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The tour grossed over $53 million worldwide, according to Jeetendr Sehdev of The Guardian (2013)

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It was released as the lead single on Bieber's debut studio album, My World 2.0. The song was a commercial success, peaking at number one in France and Scotland, and charting in the top ten of the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia, Norway, Japan, Ireland, Hungary, Belgium, Slovakia and New Zealand. The year it was released, “Baby” became the most  watched video in YouTube history at the time, surpassing Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” with 246 million views.

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Bieber begins dating Selena Gomez on and off.

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7. Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez were spotted on a date, Vogue (2010)

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7. Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez were spotted on a date, Vogue (2010)

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8. Bieber starred in a biopic and concert movie called Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, YouTube (2011)

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8. Bieber starred in a biopic and concert movie called Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, YouTube (2011)

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The movie grossed nearly $100 million at the box office.

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Justin Bieber - Never Say Never ft. Jaden

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9. In November, Bieber released a Christmas album called Under the Mistletoe a no. 1 album debut, YouTube (2011)

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9. In November, Bieber released a Christmas album called Under the Mistletoe a no. 1 album debut, YouTube (2011)

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Justin Bieber - Believe Deluxe Full Album

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Bieber launched a digital download event called Music Mondays, releasing a new song every Monday for ten weeks. The ten songs and the new five songs were made into a new album, Journals. Public reception of the album was not very positive.

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Tracklist: 1. Heartbreaker 2. All That Matters 3. Hold Tight 4. Recovery 5. Bad Day 6. All Bad 7. PYD 8. Roller Coaster 9. Change Me 10. Confident ft. Chance...

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Bieber had several run-ins with the law, such as drunk driving, throwing eggs at neighbors' houses, vandalism, resisting arrest with an expired license, assault, and dangerous driving.

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Justin Bieber arrested on drunken driving, resisting arrest charges | CNN

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Justin Bieber was charged with drunken driving and resisting arrest after police saw the pop star street racing Thursday, Miami Beach police said.

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Justin Bieber "Purpose" Full Album Playlist

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Released: November 13th, 2015 Singles released: What Do You Mean? Sorry Love Yourself Company "Purpose" debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, earnin...

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It won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.

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Skrillex and Diplo - "Where Are Ü Now" with Justin Bieber (Official Video)

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17. According to BBC's report, the Chinese government banned Bieber from performing in China, due to his past behavior in 2017. 

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17. According to BBC's report, the Chinese government banned Bieber from performing in China, due to his past behavior in 2017. 

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Justin Bieber banned from China for ‘bad behaviour’

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Beijing said it was not appropriate to allow in entertainers who have engaged in “bad behaviour.”

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18. Bieber broke up with Selena Gomez for the last time in 2018, Vogue (2018) 

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18. Bieber broke up with Selena Gomez for the last time in 2018, Vogue (2018) 

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A Detailed History of Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber's On-Again, Off-Again Relationship

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So you can truly understand the latest news.

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20. Celebrity promotion--"Drew House", W magazine (2019)

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20. Celebrity promotion--"Drew House", W magazine (2019)

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Bieber launched his own streetwear label in 2019.

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The Mystery of Justin Bieber’s New Clothing Line, Solved

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Is this really all there is to it—$4.99 slippers and corduroy?

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Justin Bieber is bringing his self-described laid-back style to Hong Kong.

The singer, who launched his own clothing label called Drew House in January, is opening the brand's first pop-up shop in the city's SoHo district from March 30 to 31 for Art Basel. The store will be designed as an interactive video rental store and will offer 18 unisex styles, including corduroy pieces, bucket hats and basketball shorts. As of Wednesday afternoon, it wasn't confirmed if Bieber will make an appearance at the pop-up.

Selling out of its first collection upon launch, Drew House has gained a famous client base, including Bieber's wife, model Hailey Baldwin, Jaden Smith and Travis Scott, among others.

"As a small, new brand from Los Angeles we just wanted to be accessible to the other side of the world," a brand representative said in a statement. "We wanted to serve a place that perhaps wouldn't normally have first access to something like this. Hong Kong is one of the biggest and most forward-thinking markets for fashion in the world. Once we found this store location it was a done deal. It felt like a home away from home...and we're all about that."

The pop-up will also offer pieces from Drew House's upcoming collection, which includes the brand's highly sought after hotel slippers that Bieber posted about on Instagram in December prior to the brand's launch. These offerings will be made available internationally on the brand's web site in April.

Bieber mainly uses his Instagram to promote the line's pieces, which typically feature the brand's happy face logo. The singer and his wife are routinely seen wearing pieces from the line, like the Drew House sweatshirts and hats.

The singer also took to his Instagram on Monday to reveal he'd be taking a break from music, stating he needs to focus on his mental health and marriage before making another album.

The pop-up is located at 36 Cochrane Street in Central Hong Kong. Prices range from $20 to $200.
Read more here: Hailey Baldwin Talks Engagement to Justin Bieber Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin Take Their Love to John Elliott's Front Row Hailey Baldwin and Kelia Moniz Talk Roxy Sister Line WATCH: Explore Hong Kong's Fashion Scene

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Justin Bieber Is Bringing Drew House to Hong Kong

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The singer's clothing line is hosting its first pop-up shop this weekend in Hong Kong for Art Basel.

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12. Bieber got away with as much childishness as he could, and childishness has helped him become one of the greatest (and most polarising) performers in popular music, Los Angeles Times (2013)

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12. Bieber got away with as much childishness as he could, and childishness has helped him become one of the greatest (and most polarising) performers in popular music, Los Angeles Times (2013)

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In 2011, on his holiday album "Under the Mistletoe," Justin Bieber came on like Mariah Carey's kid nephew - a sort of pint-sized vocal prodigy - in a squeaky-clean duet with the singer on her "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

Not anymore.

Two Christmases later, Bieber is nearing the end of a year in which he's done about as much as possible to shake off the childlike innocence that helped establish him as one of pop music's biggest (and most polarizing) acts.

The incidents will be familiar even to casual followers of celebrity gossip: the heated run-in with a photographer in London, the unauthorized spray-painting of walls in South America and Australia, the urination into a mop bucket in a New York restaurant. And then there was the explosive viral video that depicts a woman - a prostitute, according to some reports - blowing a kiss to Bieber as he sleeps on a sofa.
PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus before and after Disney
At 19, he's already lived more colorfully than many stars three times his age.

Bieber channels some of that growth (if indeed "growth" is the right word) on "Journals," a new digital album that collects 10 singles recently released on iTunes along with five previously unissued songs. The package, which went on sale late Sunday, precedes "Justin Bieber's Believe," a concert-film documentary due in theaters Wednesday.

In these songs he almost entirely avoids the high-energy dance beats that defined his last album, 2012's "Believe." The music is slower and more restrained, with clean-toned electric guitar licks and gently stuttering R&B; grooves; "Recovery," one especially assured highlight, is built on a sample from "Fill Me In" by the English soul singer Craig David. It's a knowing choice of source material, indicating both a shift in stylistic direction as well as Bieber's affinity with another performer who found fame during his teen years.

As individual installments of the singer's "Music Mondays" series (in which he released a new track every week from early October through mid-December), cuts like the bluesy "All That Matters" and the hollowed-out "Hold Tight" suggested that Bieber was using the iTunes rollout to experiment with different moods and textures; here they feel like parts of an impressively unified whole.
PHOTOS: Katy Perry in concert: onstage and offbeat
They're held together largely by Bieber's singing, which is terrific throughout "Journals" - breathy and expressive, but also muscular when it needs to be, as in the chewy pop-funk tune "Roller Coaster."

Yet his vocal ability has been apparent for some time to anyone who's bothered to listen. What distinguishes "Journals" is that he's using that voice to confront the awkward aging-in-public process head-on, rare among his peers beyond Taylor Swift. There are mournful breakup songs presumably inspired by his on-again/off-again relationship with Selena Gomez. There are credibly lascivious sex jams such as "PYD," a duet with R. Kelly.

And, perhaps most important, there are tunes that take up his evolving reputation with surprising candor. Sometimes, as in "All Bad," he's assuring a lover that the haters have him all wrong. "Instigators like putting fire on propane," he croons over a head-nodding beat, brushing off the criticism like so much dirt on his shoulder.

At other points, though, Bieber seems willing, even eager, to implicate himself in the tabloid circus that his life has become. "First I'll acknowledge our trust has been broken," he sings in "Recovery," one of several lyrics here that might apply to a single person or to the portion of his audience put off by his recent antics.

He goes further in "Change Me," a delicate piano ballad that opens with his accepting "a little responsibility" before proposing a solution to a problem he didn't even have this time last year. "Maybe you could change me," he sings with an exquisite tear in his voice. "Maybe you could be the light that opens up my eyes, make all my wrongs right."

It's a come-to-Jesus moment that has nothing to do with Christmas.
mikael.wood@latimes.com ---------------------------
Justin Bieber

"Journals"

(Island)

3 stars

PHOTOS AND MORE

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Review: Justin Bieber comes of age in 'Journals'

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Review: Justin Bieber comes of age in 'Journals'

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19. Justin Bieber married to Hailey Baldwin, BBC (2018)

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19. Justin Bieber married to Hailey Baldwin, BBC (2018)

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Justin Bieber celebrates Thanksgiving as a married man

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Justin Bieber posted on Instagram he's celebrated his first Thanksgiving as a married man after tying the knot with Hailey Baldwin.

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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He gainned more and more popularity and he has an extensive social media presence. Bieber began to change his previous teen pop style into more contemporary pop and R&B.  He began to develop a more mature image.

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He gainned more and more popularity and he has an extensive social media presence. Bieber began to change his previous teen pop style into more contemporary pop and R&B.  He began to develop a more mature image.

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26. Bieber collaborated with Vespa, YouTube (2022)

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26. Bieber collaborated with Vespa, YouTube (2022)

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Justin Bieber x Vespa | Italian Style Meets California Cool.

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Justin Bieber says he is taking another break from touring to "make my health a priority".

In June, the singer revealed he was suffering from facial paralysis, after a diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

The 28-year-old, who has been on his Justice world tour, now says recent shows have "taken a real toll" and he needs more time to "rest and get better".

It comes a month after the singer announced his return to the stage.

Posting on his Instagram, he says he had given "everything I have" following a recent show in Brazil.

Ramsay Hunt syndrome is when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near someone's ears, resulting in paralysis of parts of the face.

"After getting offstage, the exhaustion overtook me and I realised I need to make my health the priority right now," he says.

"So I'm going to take a break from touring right now. I'm going to be OK, but I need to take time to rest and get better."

Ramsay Hunt Syndrome cannot be passed from one person to another, but it is a complication from a disease called shingles.

Shingles is linked to the chickenpox virus that many people can get when they're children.

According to the charity Facial Palsy UK, if the immune system becomes depressed and is less able to fight off infection, the body can become vulnerable to a reactivation of the chickenpox virus.

It says stress is often a trigger as it can weaken the immune system, and people who are stressed are more likely to suffer from infections.

Justin had earlier told fans he had been doing facial exercises to regain movement, but that it would still take time to recover.

Back in June, the Canadian posted a video describing how the condition has impacted him.

"It is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves, and has caused my face to have paralysis," he said in the three-minute video.

He also smiled and blinked, showing his followers how the right side of his face did not move.

'Knocked me sideways'

Nicoya Rescorla, who has the same condition as Justin, told Newsbeat in June that it had "taken away my independence".

"The pain has been horrendous - it's been debilitating," she said.

The 28-year-old, from Marazion in Cornwall, got Ramsay Hunt in October 2020, and says it started with neck pain before the paralysis kicked in.

Following that, she experienced a range of other symptoms too.

"The vertigo and balance has really knocked me sideways," she adds.

"It's isolated me really physically and mentally because I can't just go out if I want to - I'm having to rely on my husband and my mum," Nicoya said.

But she believes Justin speaking out about the condition is important.

"It's powerful for people like me and other people who are going through Ramsay Hunt syndrome."

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

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Justin Bieber suspends world tour due to health issues

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The singer has posted on Instagram saying he is taking a break to "make my health a priority".

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27. Bieber was recovering, Glamour (2023)

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27. Bieber was recovering, Glamour (2023)

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Nine months after revealing his Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnosis, Justin Bieber is smiling in a new update post.

Back in June 2022, the pop star shared that he was recovering from a virus that caused paralysis on one side of his face. According to the Mayo Clinic, Ramsay Hunt syndrome "occurs when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near one of your ears" and can result in facial paralysis as well as hearing loss.

In the video Bieber demonstrated that he could not blink with one eye nor could he smile or move the nostril on the side of his face. He also announced he would be stepping back from touring to focus on his recovery and "get my face back to where it's supposed to be."

"I love you guys. Thanks for being patient with me. And I'm gonna get better," he said in the video announcement. "And I'm doing all these facial exercises to get my face back to normal, and it will go back to normal. It's just time, and we don't know how much time that's gonna be, but it's gonna be okay and I have hope and I trust God."

On March 15, Bieber took to Instagram Stories to share a positive recovery update with his fans. "Wait for it," he wrote alongside a video clip of his bright, smiling face. Like all Insta Story posts, the video expired after 24 hours.

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Justin Bieber Shares a Smiley Update on His Facial Paralysis Recovery

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In June 2022, Bieber announced he was suffering from Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Nine months later he posted a positive update.

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Don Toliver - Private Landing (feat. Justin Bieber & Future) [Official Audio]

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29. Bieber joined Toliver on stage at the 2023 Rolling Loud festival to deliver a surprise performance of the song, YouTube (2023)

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29. Bieber joined Toliver on stage at the 2023 Rolling Loud festival to deliver a surprise performance of the song, YouTube (2023)

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Don Toliver brings out Justin Bieber @ Rolling Loud Cali 2023

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25. Justin Bieber Stars in Balenciaga 2022 Campaign, Highsnobiet (2022)

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25. Justin Bieber Stars in Balenciaga 2022 Campaign, Highsnobiet (2022)

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Baggy Bieber is back at it again.

Justin Bieber makes his way into Balenciaga's first 2022 campaign, accompanying brand muses Kim Kardashian and Isabelle Huppert.

"Y2k Baggy Jeans Bieber" makes an swelling return, with the "Peaches" artist posted up in his favorite LA studio (new music on the way?) and dripped out entirely in a cozy Balenciaga fit.

As dramatically larger-than-life jeans have become a signature piece to his big ensembles, all eyes naturally go straight to JB's Destroyed Super Large Baggy Jeans.

Paired with the baggy trousers, Justin Bieber wears the black Shrunk Zip-Up Hoodie and chunky Triple S sneakers from the brand's ready-to-wear collection, keeping it luxe and comfy for a session in the stu'.

It is no secret Justin Bieber enjoys billowing silhouettes, rocking them for everyday street style for quite some time now. Some moments are questionable, like his yellow Balenciaga hoodie with the extremely elongated sleeves, making you scratch and tilt your head.

However, Balenciaga's campaigns starring the musician are undeniably too good.

Last year, the brand's Instagram went dark before posting a tasteful lookbook featuring none other than Mr. Justin Bieber himself, outfitted in an oversized leather jacket, the then-new Runner sneakers, and Neo Classic handbag.

Fast forward to just two months ago, Justin Bieber reappears to showcase the brand's Unisex collection, dressed in a pleasing all-black look from the genderless line.

Looks aren't the only thing he's doing big as the pop artist spends hefty dollars on NFTs. As a new Bored Ape Yacht Club member, he casually spent $1.3 million on a Bored Ape NFT (nothing too crazy, right?).

From fits to NFTs, "go big or go home" is always Bieber's motto.

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Baggy Bieber Returns in Latest Balenciaga Campaign

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Justin Bieber joins Kim Kardashian and Isabelle Huppert in Balenciaga's first 2022 campaign, keeping it baggy and cozy in the brand's ready-to-wear pieces.

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Drug addiction of Justin Bieber, USA Today Entertainment (2020)

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Justin Bieber is speaking frankly for the first time about his past experiences with drug addiction.

In an episode of his documentary series "Justin Bieber: Sessions," released Monday, the 25-year-old pop star got candid about his past drug use, which began with smoking marijuana when he was "12 or 13."

The singer has previously opened up about a past of "doing pretty heavy drugs," but delved into much greater detail in the new episode. He began depending on marijuana heavily and later got involved with alcohol, lean (a mixture of codeine cough syrup, soda and hard candy), taking pills, MDMA, psychedelic mushrooms, "everything." Bieber eventually decided he wanted to get sober when he "felt like I was dying."

"My security and stuff would come into my room at night to check my pulse," he recalled. "People don't know how serious it got. It was legit crazy scary. I was waking up in the morning and the first thing I was doing was popping pills and smoking a blunt and starting my day. It just got scary."

Scooter Braun, Bieber's longtime manager, called ages 19 to 21 his "dark period."

"He's gone through a lot in a very short life," Braun added. "You don't always agree with someone's decisions in that moment. There're young people making decisions that affect a lot of people and sometimes in those scenarios, you're gonna make the right the right decision, sometimes you're gonna make the wrong."

In his youth, Bieber seemingly launched overnight from an unknown teen in Canada with a YouTube channel to an international pop star. He's previously opened up about what an overwhelming transition it was for a 13-year-old.

"Millions (of fans were) saying how much they loved me and how great I was," he wrote in an Instagram post last September. "You hear these things enough as a young boy and you actually start believing it... So by this point I was 18 with no skills in the real world, with millions of dollars and access to whatever I wanted. This is a very scary concept for anyone."

Bieber's wife, the former Hailey Baldwin, said she thought his then-undiagnosed "crippling anxiety" led the young star to self-medicate. But she didn't involve herself in his life until he decided to get sober.

Bieber said his parents didn't raise him with the "tools to be a good team player."

"Sometimes when life throws you things that you can't control, you know, naturally our attitude is to be upset or to be disappointed or discouraged," Bieber said. "It might not seem that hard to some people to just get out of bed in the morning, but it's been really hard for me to just get out of my bed. And I know a lot of people feel that same way, so I just want to say you're not there alone in that. There's people that are going through it with you. Life is worth living."
More: Justin Bieber announces the title of his fifth album: 'Changes,' sets Valentine's Day release
The documentary series, a YouTube Originals production, premiered last month and was announced, along with Bieber's upcoming album "Changes," to further explain the singer's health issues, among other topics. Earlier in January, Bieber revealed he was diagnosed with Lyme disease and had "a serious case of chronic mono."

Since the last time we heard new tunes from Bieber, he's gotten married and become transparent about battling mental illness in the public eye and learning from his errors.

"As humans, we are imperfect," Bieber said in a video announcing his new professional chapter. "My past, my mistakes, all the things that I've been through. I believe that I'm right where I'm supposed to be and God has me right where he wants me. ... We all have different stories. I'm just excited to share mine."

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Justin Bieber gets candid about past drug addiction, getting sober: I 'felt like I was dying'

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In a new episode of "Justin Bieber: Sessions, the pop star, 25, got candid about drug use, which began with smoking marijuana when he was "12 or 13."

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10. Forbes puts Bieber's fortune at about $80 million, Forbes (2012)

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10. Forbes puts Bieber's fortune at about $80 million, Forbes (2012)

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"Bieber boasts 21 million Twitter followers—more than any person on Earth not named Lady Gaga. His 43 million Facebook fans are more than Mitt Romney’s and Barack Obama’s put together", Forbes (2012).

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Leaning on a soundboard in a Hollywood recording studio, Justin Bieber is about to make me an offer that would prompt instant hysteria among millions of American teenage girls: Do I want to be the first person outside of his inner circle to hear some rough cuts he's considering for his upcoming album, Believe?

"You've gotta hear this, it's crazy," gushes the singer. "It's called 'Die in Your Arms.'" A moment later his ubiquitous lilt surges full volume from the stadium-quality speakers, a soulful love song reminiscent of early Jackson 5. Next he plays "Happier When We're Together," a ballad in which he worries a girlfriend will be unfaithful while he's on tour. Standing up as his own beatboxing merges seamlessly with a drum machine at the beginning of "You're the One," he does an impromptu variation of the Moonwalk.

One can forgive him for the victory dance. Since his debut three years ago Bieber has sold 15 million albums, grossing $150 million on 157 tour dates across two dozen countries along the way. His biopic, Never Say Never, pulled in $30 million on its opening weekend, just shy of the concert-film record, and racked up $100 million at the box office in total. His fragrance, Someday, debuted last June and did $60 million in retail sales during its first six months on the market. Those income streams helped Bieber personally earn an estimated $55 million over the past 12 months and $108 million over the past two years.

"You have humans, and you have aliens," says veteran hitmaker Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, one of the producers on Believe. "I think he's half-human and half-alien."

Even more impressive than Bieber's earning power: his vast social media reach, part of the reason he ranks third on this year's Celebrity 100 list. Bieber boasts 21 million Twitter followers-more than any person on Earth not named Lady Gaga. His 43 million fans are more than Mitt Romney's and Barack Obama's put together. With 740 million views, his breakout ballad, "Baby," is the most-watched video in YouTube history; if you assume three minutes per song, his VEVO channel's 2.4 billion impressions are enough to provide one minute of video to every person on the planet.

Bieber's influence and moneymaking talents are fairly well established. It's far more surprising what he's doing with that cash. He provides a hint in the dim octagonal recording studio, owned by Rodney Jerkins, who had a hand in many of Michael Jackson's late-career hits and is now producing songs for Believe. His dancing done, Bieber quickly settles into a chair behind a keyboard. Inspiration has struck: He starts tapping out a fresh beat, as comfortable with the sophisticated equipment as a pop star a generation earlier would be strumming a rhythm guitar. "Can you loop that, what I did?" he asks the engineer at one point. Bieber eventually turns to me: "The tech aspect is just fun for me."
Full coverage: The Celebrity 100
Bieber's tech savvy infuses more than his music-it's also a core strategy for how the entertainer intends to translate all that fame and fast money into enduring riches. Instinctively, he embraces a Peter Lynch model of investing-"I'm not going to invest in something I don't like; I have to believe in the product"-but rather than load up on buy-what-you-know value stocks, the singer has been quietly plowing millions into private tech startups. According to his manager, Bieber holds stakes in a dozen such companies. FORBES was able to verify four: messaging platform Tinychat, social-curation app Stamped, gaming outfit Sojo Studios and, most critically, Spotify, the disruptive music service founded by Daniel Ek and backed by everyone from Sean Parker to Li Ka-shing.

These deals aren't equity-for-endorsement trades. Bieber put cash into each one, and few of the companies have promoted their links to the singer. Spotify, which is still working to establish itself in the U.S., wouldn't even discuss Bieber's investment. Yet he's among the most prominent examples in the new Hollywood game: tech-savvy celebrities using their fame to secure stakes in Silicon Valley darlings ( see gallery) while ordinary venture capitalists salivate on the sidelines.

Bieber has come a long way in the finance department since I first broached the subject with him a bit over a year ago. "I have a business manager," he told me at the 2011 Grammys. "That basically sums up the question." Today that's changed: "I do calls every week with my business manager and my lawyer," he says. "Each week I'm learning something about my business and what I need to know for my career."

Yet the core truth of last year's statement remains. Bieber is still a cocky, jokey teenager who, rightfully, thinks he has the world by the short hairs. His eye for technology and trends ultimately determines the go or no-go-and some of the investments have come through his own contacts-but the guy actively scouting deals, whether venture capital investments or brand extensions, has a nickname worthy of a teen idol's manager: Scott Braun, known to all as Scooter. "We're always looking for the next thing," he says. "If we're coming in and putting his name to something, and his brand and likeness and his social media power, then we will try and figure out a proper compensation."

The story of how Braun discovered Bieber four years ago became so immediately legendary that the latter is loath to go there. "You want me to tell you how I got started, bro?" complains Bieber, before relenting. "I really don't want to."

Bieber grew up in Stratford, Ont., a town of 30,000 two hours west of Toronto. His mother was 18 when she gave birth to her only child, and she raised him mostly by herself in state-subsidized housing. "Yellow shag carpets," he remembers, "and we had mice."

He quickly saturated those carpets with sound waves, teaching himself to play drums, trumpet, piano and guitar. At age 12 he earned second place in a local talent competition for his rendition of Ne-Yo's "So Sick." His mother posted videos of his performance on YouTube for friends who couldn't make the show; soon she was regularly uploading videos of her son covering soul songs.

Around the same time, Braun was doubling as an Atlanta party promoter and a small-time music industry executive. When singer Akon asked him to research an unrelated YouTube sensation, Braun accidentally came across one of Bieber's videos-a nine-figure misclick. Astonished by the youngster's tone and range, Braun tracked down Bieber's mother and offered to fly her and her son to Atlanta to sing for him and R&B crooner Usher.

"It was just crazy to me because I didn't really think that it was possible," Bieber says. "I lived in such a small town and things like that didn't really happen." Before Web 2.0 they probably never did. Yet there was Bieber, blowing away Braun and Usher in March 2008. The duo quickly signed him to their joint venture, Raymond Braun Media Group, and Braun became Bieber's manager. By September they'd landed him a record deal with Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam. His first single cracked the top 20 after its July 2009 release, and his debut EP, My World, catapulted him to mainstream fame that fall. In December President Obama invited him to sing at the White House, and he wowed a national audience with a performance on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

This cultural phenomenon, born of social media, took a modicum of fame and tossed it into the digital echo chamber. Bieber opened a Twitter account in June 2009 and by September had amassed 1 million followers. (In 2010 a Twitter employee said 3% of the company's infrastructure was dedicated to handling Bieber-related tweets.) He was also an early adopter of Instagram, the photo-sharing service recently purchased by Facebook for $1 billion, and boasts 1.5 million followers there, more than any other user (his girlfriend, singer/actress Selena Gomez, ranks third with 1.4 million).

"It used to be there was a mystery to the artist," says Bieber. "Now there's, like, no mystery-the fans want the connection, they want to see you Instagramming at a coffee shop in the morning."

With such social media dexterity Bieber has built himself a formidable platform. The 30-year-old Braun's challenge: sustaining the phenomenon. In many ways Bieber and Braun are the most intriguing talent-manager combo since Elvis and Colonel Tom Parker. Both managers wielded the influence that comes from discovering their charges young, and both faced the challenge of moving them past the fickle market of hysterical, screaming teenage girls.

But whereas Parker took any deal he could and up to 50% of the action to make sure his once-in-a-lifetime meal ticket turned into a decades-long feast, Braun is more judicious. His deal with Bieber is closer to the standard 15%; he thinks long-term success requires selectivity, not ubiquity, and aligning all deals with Bieber's brand. "I don't let him get involved in anything unless he likes it," he says. Turning Bieber into the world's most unconventional venture capitalist is simply a sophisticated manifestation of that philosophy.

Braun first came up with the idea of getting Bieber to invest in startups three years ago. Just as Diddy partnered with Ciroc and Jay-Z launched a Reebok sneaker line, it made sense for Bieber to directly benefit from something he could promote to his core audience. But teenagers aren't allowed to buy vodka, and they generally don't have the disposable income necessary to buy $150 shoes. What they do consume in nearly unlimited quantities, however, is social media.

"I said, 'This is a space where you can move the needle and you can actually be a part of something that's more than just your money working,'" Braun recalls. "'You worked hard to get to this point, and these [startups] are benefiting over what you're doing. ... You should be a part of that process.'" Adds Bieber: "Social media helped launch my career. Without the Internet and without YouTube, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to put my music out there and have people hear it."

Bieber's first investment came in 2009, and though he won't reveal that company's name, he's been on a venture capital roll ever since. Last January he and Braun joined a $1.5 million financing round for Tinychat, along with A-Grade (the investment fund run by actor Ashton Kutcher, billionaire Ron Burkle and Guy Oseary, Madonna's manager). In May Bieber joined Google Ventures and Bain Capital to invest in Stamped, an app that allows users to rate everything from restaurants to music. Spotify was the big one, as founder Daniel Ek recruited a handful of recording artists to buy in while seeking industry credibility ahead of his company's U.S. launch last year. Next up: Viddy, a video-sharing app with an Instagram-like interface.

"Scooter has a team that helps find investments," says Bieber. "Usually we work together. If I find something, I bring it to the table."

In the latter camp, Ellen DeGeneres turned Bieber on to social gaming company Sojo Studios, and he soon joined her as an investor. One of his favorite products: a FarmVille-esque Facebook game called WeTopia, where players collect virtual points that can be redeemed as donations to real charities. Neither Bieber nor his manager will reveal any other startups he's backed, but Braun says they're all still in business.

In a typical Bieber deal he'll put in about $250,000 at the favorable pricing generally reserved for smart money-the kind of strategic partners that help a company long term. Braun won't disclose the size of Bieber's portfolio but says it's between 2% and 5% of the singer's net worth. FORBES puts Bieber's fortune at about $80 million, which translates to somewhere in the ballpark of $3 million in venture investments.

There will surely be more loot to put to work. This fall Bieber embarks on a yearlong tour, hitting every continent but Antarctica; promoter AEG Live has guaranteed him $80 million for 125 concerts. Anyone who sees Bieber as a fad should take note of that deal. "He's not just an American domestic phenomenon, he's a worldwide phenomenon," says Randy Phillips, AEG's chief.

On the tour Bieber will be showcasing the more grown-up fare of Believe -a crucial step as he tries to transition from teen idol to adult icon. "It's not really a transition, it's just opening doors," he insists. "I'm trying to make music that's a little bit more mature and that can appeal to all ages, and I'm not trying to lose my younger fans."

Some compare this blueprint with that of another Justin-Timberlake, a crossover former boy-band star with venture capitalist proclivities. Similarly Bieber is taking acting more seriously, planning to costar with Mark Wahlberg in a basketball flick next year. But Bieber maintains there's only one role model: Michael Jackson, who converted child stardom to icon status. Inspired by the King of Pop's largesse, he says he includes a charitable component in every deal. "People were fine with buying 20 CDs from Michael Jackson because he went and did good things."

It's no coincidence that Bieber went with AEG's Phillips, a longtime Jackson partner, to promote his tour. The same goes for his choice of Jerkins as an album producer. The first day Bieber went to the studio, Jerkins played him footage of Jackson in the recording booth; Bieber watched it twice. "There's something about Justin, he has this effect that reminds me of Michael," says Jerkins. "It's not just music, it's everything-it's his spirit, his personality."

And why not? Jackson was the genre-defining star of his generation's media breakthrough, . Bieber has a legitimate claim on the social media crown (regarding Lady Gaga, Bieber is dismissive: "She didn't have online fans before she had mainstream fans"). And just as Jackson's bankruptcy-staving investment was the thing he understood best-the Beatles catalog-perhaps someday Bieber will live well not from the songs he sings but the assets they let him buy into.
For more on the business of music, check out my book Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

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Justin Bieber, Venture Capitalist: The Forbes Cover Story

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The 18-year-old idol remains a Hollywood force, having earned $108 million over the past two years. With several quiet tech startup investments-including Spotify-he's now trying to make similar conquests in Silicon Valley.

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Sean Redmond (2014) 'The Celebrity Metronome', from Celebrity and the Media, Palgrave Macmillan

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After 2018: a mature and diverse celebrity

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After 2018: a mature and diverse celebrity

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Shingler, M. (2012) Star studies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Turner, G. (2014) Understanding Celebrity. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. 

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Marriage/The role of husband: He started his family in 2018 when he ended his years-long relationship with Selena Gomez and married Hailey Baldwin.

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Marriage/The role of husband: He started his family in 2018 when he ended his years-long relationship with Selena Gomez and married Hailey Baldwin.

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Focusing on music production: Releases an album every year and performs at events to meet his fans

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Focusing on music production: Releases an album every year and performs at events to meet his fans

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2014-2018: Controversial star image--Scandals/Legal Issues, CNN (2014)-->a troubled and reckless young celebrity (These offences seriously affected his star image and he was seen as a bad boy.)

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2014-2018: Controversial star image--Scandals/Legal Issues, CNN (2014)-->a troubled and reckless young celebrity (These offences seriously affected his star image and he was seen as a bad boy.)

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Raising people's awareness of mental health and advocating for mental health--Justin Bieber openly talked about his story of struggling with mental illness and his history of drug abuse. 

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Raising people's awareness of mental health and advocating for mental health--Justin Bieber openly talked about his story of struggling with mental illness and his history of drug abuse. 

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Meyers, E. (2009) “Can you handle my truth?”: authenticity and the celebrity star image’, The journal of popular culture, 42(5), pp. 890-907. 

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His first celebrity image stemmed from his music. 

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His first celebrity image stemmed from his music. 