Early life

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario[12] and was raised in Stratford,
Ontario. Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant with
her son. Mallette, who worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raised Bieber as a single
mother. However, Bieber maintains contact with his father, Jeremy Bieber.[13][14] As he grew,
Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.[15] In early 2007, when he
was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and
placed second.[5] 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.[9]

Career
2008: Discovery

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive
of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident.[13] Impressed, Braun
tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally
contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant; she remembered praying, "God, I gave him to
you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label!"[13] However, after praying with
her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then
13,[9] to Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes.[13] A week after arriving, Bieber sang for
R&B singer/songwriter Usher.[16] Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group
(RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.[8] Justin Timberlake was also reportedly
in the running to sign Bieber, but lost the bidding war to Usher.[8][17] Usher then arranged an
audition with Antonio L.A. Reid of Island Def Jam Music Group, who signed Bieber to
Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island
Records).[5][8][9] At that point, Bieber and his mother moved to Atlanta, also the home of Usher
and Braun, to base his career.[8] Braun became Bieber's manager.[9]

2009–2010: My World and My World 2.0

Bieber in September 2009 at the Nintendo World Store

Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his
debut album.[18] The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week
of release in July 2009,[9] and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. During fall
2009 it had success in international markets.[19] The song was certified Platinum in Canada
and the U.S. and Gold in Australia and New Zealand.[20][21][22] Bieber's first album My World,
was released on November 17, 2009. Three consecutive singles, "One Less Lonely Girl",
"Love Me", and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes store and charted
within the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100.[19] "One Less Lonely Girl" was later also
released to radio and peaked within the top fifteen in Canada and the U.S., being certified
Gold in the latter.[19] My World was eventually certified Platinum in the U.S. and Canada and
Silver in the UK.[22][23] To promote the album, Bieber performed in several live shows such as
mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV's The Next Star, The Today Show,
[24][25]
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 with Rihanna.
Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.[26]

Bieber performed Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" for U.S. President Barack Obama
and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which was
broadcast on December 20, 2009, on U.S. television broadcaster TNT.[27] Bieber was also one
of the performers at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December
31, 2009.[28] Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He
was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of 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.[29] 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.

"Baby", the lead single from the second half of his debut album, which features Ludacris, was
released in January 2010 and became his biggest hit thus far, charting at number five in the
U.S. and reaching the top ten in seven other countries.[19] Two digital singles, "Never Let You
Go", and "U Smile" were top thirty hits on the U.S. Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada.
[19]
According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable
reviews".[30] It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest
solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963.[31] My World 2.0 also debuted at
number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, and Australian Albums
Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart[19] and reached the top ten of fifteen other
countries.[32][33] To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including
The View, the 2010 Kids Choice Awards, Nightline, The Late Show with David Letterman,
The Dome and 106 and Park.[34][35] On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on
Saturday Night Live.[36] On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy's Fourth of July
Fireworks Spectacular in New York City.[37] The second single from My World 2.0,
"Somebody to Love", was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber's
mentor Usher. In June 2010, it reached 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Target for critics, pranksters, and parodies

Bieber has often been criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age and his
effeminacy, teen pop music, image, and frequent media attention.[59] He has been a frequent
target for internet bloggers and message board posters —notably by users of internet message
board 4chan, users of YouTube, and various Facebook groups. Pranks have included a
successful campaign to push "Justin Bieber Syphilis" to the top of the Google Trends Hot
Searches list; hacked YouTube videos that were altered so as to redirect users to adult
websites or trigger pop-up messages saying that Bieber had been killed in a car accident; his
Last.fm photograph being changed to pornographic images; various rumors circulated, from
rumors that Bieber had died, joined a cult, or even that his mother was offered $50,000 to
pose topless in Playboy magazine—none of which were true.[60] This all forced the affected
companies to update their security protocols to reverse the damage, and Bieber himself
tweeted to fans reassuring them that he was still living and that false rumors about his mother
"just grossed and weirded me out."[60]

Most notable was the campaign to send Bieber to North Korea as part of his world tour
(entitled My World Tour).[60] This was carried out in part by 4chan users voting for the
country on the tour's website, for the free competition to nominate a bonus country for the
tour—the second-placed country being Israel, which presumably was voted for by Israelis
genuinely wishing to attend the concert.[60] It is highly unlikely that Bieber would actually
have been given permission by the North Korean government, or concert organizers and
management, to enter the country.[60] Universal Music Group has denied any involvement in a
poll that became the target of an online prank. A spokesperson for UMG told BBC News that
it was a "hoax" but declined to give any further comment.[61]

Notable parodies of Bieber include part of Michael Bublé's music video for "Hollywood"[62]
and Galo Frito's parody of "Baby", which won the 2010 MTV Video Music Brazil Web Hit
award.[63]

Nick Collins of The Daily Telegraph speculated that "Bieber's character also appears to strike
a particularly sour note with his Internet critics, with many remarks commenting on his
youthful appearance, his teen-pop songs, his image as a heart-throb to young teenage girls
and his manner of speech".[64]

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