Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in
London, Ontario[11] 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, who married another woman and had two children. He is of paternal
German ancestry with his great-grandfather immigrating from Germany to Canada.
[12][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]
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]
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.
Crowd control problems
Bieber performing in front of a crowd in September 2009
Bieber's popularity has caused safety concerns. While promoting
My World, Bieber was scheduled to appear at
Long Island's
Roosevelt Field Mall, but the performance had to be cancelled.
[55] The event got out of control, and over 35 units from the
Nassau County and
Garden City police departments had to be called in. Several fans received minor injuries. The police arrested an Island Records senior vice-president, James A. Roppo, reportedly for hindering the police's crowd control efforts by not sending a timely message on Twitter as instructed by the police.
[55] James Roppo pleaded not guilty to all charges.
[56][57] On March 24, 2010, Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, was arrested on one count of second-degree reckless endangerment and one count of second-degree criminal nuisance related to the incident. Braun pleaded not guilty to both charges and was later released.
[58]
On April 26, 2010, a scheduled promotional performance was cancelled by Australian police after several girls were injured in a
crowd crush. Bieber was scheduled to sing three songs for the Channel Seven program,
Sunrise. In a
Twitter message after the incident, Bieber said: "I want to make this clear... I don't cancel." Bieber's
tweet continued, stating: "I woke up this morning to the police canceling the show for safety reasons. I'm very happy about the welcome and the love from around the world, but I want everyone to still remember my fans' safety comes first. At the end of the day I want you all to enjoy the music."
[59]
No comments:
Post a Comment