The comeback kid: Bieber’s rise to fame

Justin Bieber rose to fame as a young teenager in 2009 with his hit song One Time and he is still just as popular today with his new album Purpose.

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Justin Bieber rose to fame as a young teenager in 2009 with his hit song “One Time” and he is still just as popular today with his new album “Purpose.”

Many people didn’t know that 2009 was going to be one of the most important years in history, but it in fact was. This is all due to a certain awkward tween who rose to fame with a high-pitched singing voice and perfect hair to match. Justin Bieber was one of the greatest gifts that preteen and teenage girls could have asked for because he was young, talented, good looking and of course, had the infamous Bieber hair.

Bieber started posting videos of himself singing different cover songs on YouTube at the age of 12, and as the videos began receiving more and more views, he decided to continue posting. “Eventually, I got found by my manager [Scooter Braun] who flew me to Atlanta to meet Usher,” Bieber said in an interview with ABC News. Usher had Bieber signed to Island Def Jam Recordings after winning a bidding war with Justin Timberlake who was also interested in the young star.

Bieber released his first single, “One Time,” in May 2009. The popular video featured an appearance by Usher, and soon it went platinum in both Canada and America. His album “My World” was released later that year featuring only seven songs, but it reached number six on the Billboard 200 album chart, even though the disc was technically an EP.  Beliebers, only the most dedicated of Bieber’s fans, broke open their piggy banks and rushed to the store, snatching up the album at unbelievable rates, causing it to sell over a million copies.

As Bieber produced more songs and albums, his fame continued to skyrocket. Beliebers began making up the majority of the world’s population, with each and every one of them hoping to become Mrs. Justin Bieber. In 2011, Selena Gomez became an incredibly envied girl when she and Bieber began dating, and were given the ship of “Jelena.”

On Dec. 23, 2013, the album “Journals” was only released digitally through online platforms, such as iTunes, by Island Records. A ten-week digital download campaign entitled Music Mondays, in which one new song was released every Monday night, was held from Oct. 7, 2013 to Dec. 9, 2013. These magical Mondays became the highlight of Beliebers’ week because it meant that their hero would serenade them to sleep that night with a new song.

In 2014 it was a tragic and mortifying Christmas day for Beliebers across the nation when Bieber announced  on Twitter that he would be retiring from music. The wailing cries of teenage girls could be heard everywhere, causing a scene almost as crazy as when Zayn Malik left One Direction.

Before long, Bieber was producing music once again, and Beliebers everywhere were able to let out a big sigh of relief. His album “Purpose” was released on Nov. 13, 2015 featuring hit songs such as “Sorry,” “Love Yourself,” “What Do You Mean?” and “I’ll Show You” and it has become one of his most popular albums yet. According to Billboard, “Bieber boasts 17 songs on the Dec. 5 Hot 100, marking the most titles that any artist has placed on the chart in a single week.” This beats the 14 that the Beatles managed on April 11, 1964 and the 14 that Drake earned on the March 7 and Oct. 17 this year.

In an interview with Billboard, Bieber looks to his future, saying “enough with the Justin Bieber Show. I want to veer away from the self-centered attitude… I’m just focused on the people who have been there since the start, on people who are taking the journey now. I want them to feel like we’re doing this together.”