Justin Bieber Read online

  Everything about the way My World was released turned the old way of thinking inside out. A skinny white kid on a record with rappers with serious street cred. A teen fan favorite with no TV show. Marketing experts at the label told us we could expect to move 60,000 in five weeks. We ended up selling 900,000 in five weeks.

  “Kenny would take me wherever I needed to go or just pick me up to go bowling or to play laser tag”

  “It all happened because of you”

  I’m sure me and the team would love to take credit for this, but the truth of it is that it all happened because of you. We are good, but we aren’t that good, and every day I wake up knowing I have the best fans in the world. Every day you go above and beyond for me, and I know I’m going off the storyline but I wanted to let you know that I know and I’m extremely appreciative every day.

  Back to the story.

  When my songs hit the charts in Canada, my grandpa and grandma were incredibly proud and excited. That’s been one of the greatest things about all this. It’s exciting in all the ways you’d expect it to be, but it was a great feeling to make my family so proud – and to be able to help them. It’s amazing to think about actually being able to buy a nice house for my mom.

  We were way too busy to get cocky about it, but we started to realize how huge our fanbase really was. The week My World was released, we had an event scheduled at a mall in Long Island. Long story short, the place was a total mob scene. Thousands of fans showed up, and security was overwhelmed before I even got there. The event had to be canceled for the safety of the fans, which is of course, a top priority for Scooter and me and everyone on our team. Even though we weren’t there and did our best to help handle the situation, two people from our team got arrested. It was crazy. Media reports kept comparing it to Beatlemania. Suddenly, the whole world was paving attention.

  Offers started coming in from all over. German TV show? Sure! Japanese record store? We’re there! Bungee-jumping off a bridge in New Zealand? We are so there!

  During the second half of 2009, we traveled all over the world, seeing so many beautiful places, meeting so many terrific fans. I know this all sounds like fun, but there was plenty of times I was so exhausted I felt like I was losing myself. But I guess what kept me going was knowing how much my mom sacrificed for me to chase my dream, how hard my team worked to make this happen and just seeing the excited faces of my fans all around the world. Even in my worst moments, you all seem to lift me up.

  Traveling has definitely opened my eyes to different cultures and the way people see things. It was a total trip (no pun intended) getting to sing to my Parisian fans in French. I think it blew their minds a little bit. Traveling has taught me more than any school ever taught me. And I’ve done more geography than most students get.

  “It was crazy... suddenly, the whole world was paying attention”

  “Traveling has definitely opened my eyes to different cultures and the way people see things. It was a total trip”

  BREAK A LEG

  In November 2009, I was invited to open for Taylor Swift at Wembley Arena in London. It was the biggest crowd I’d seen so far – over twelve thousand people. I wasn’t nervous about performing, just incredibly thrilled to be on there with Taylor in front of so many gorgeous fans.

  Before I went on, Usher coached me on how to use the incredible energy that comes off a crowd that size. “Allow the crowd to work with you. They want to sing with you. I know you’re fighting to get each and every lyric out, but, a lot of times, give it to them. Allow them to be part of it, you know? Because they are. This is a connection. They’re connecting to you. Take your time with it, man. Make it personal. You’re here, you’re there – that’s their moment, that touch, that relationship.”

  I was stoked. I got out there and did my set, and it went great. Tay James was lighting the fire for our last number before the encore.

  “When I say Justin, you say Bieber! Justin!”

  “Bieber!”

  “Justin!”

  “Bieber!”

  “When I say one, you say time! One!”

  “Time!”

  “One!”

  “Time!”

  That energy Usher talked about was a living, breathing thing – times twelve thousand. I started down the ramp. My voice was strong, the moves felt solid, everything was right until I got to the end of the ramp and ended up just a couple inches from where I should have been. My foot rolled right to the edge of the ramp, and it felt like stepping on a railroad spike. Pain instantly ripped through the nerve endings from my big toe to the back of my neck. I’d broken my foot skateboarding the year before, so I knew immediately that this was seriously messed up.

  “All I could do was fight for enough air to get through the song”

  My foot was broken.

  In the middle of a song.

  In front of twelve thousand people.

  And Taylor Swift.

  I won’t tell you the words that went through my head. Meanwhile, the song kept coming out of my mouth, part muscle memory, part hardcore hockey kid, part Mama Jan training automatically kicking in. I kept singing, and the crowd kept going crazy, but people onstage started looking at me like they knew something was wrong. There was no way I could dance like I normally do. I was probably dancing like that spazzy chemistry teacher who chaperoned your last homecoming dance. Every step was another spike. It took everything I had to keep from screaming. All I could do was fight for enough air to get through the song.

  Longest three minutes of my life. I pushed through to the end, and Dan brought it home. I managed to wave and thank everybody as I limped off, but, once I got backstage, I howled like a dog. I won’t lie, I was crying. It was just so much pain. Kenny scooped me up and started looking toward the green room, yelling over his shoulder, “Get the paramedics!”

  People backstage were freaking out. “What’s wrong?”

  Scooter dove into the fray, and my mom was right behind him. “Justin? Oh, my God! What happened?”

  I groaned something that basically meant “I broke my friggin’ foot again.”

  Scooter threw the green room door open, and Kenny plopped me on the sofa.

  “Are you sure?” he said. “Maybe you just twisted—”

  “Aagh! Don’t touch it!”

  “Okay. Okay. You’re okay.” He whipped out his iPhone to troubleshoot the first aid and find out what an American manager is supposed to do with a wounded Canadian singer in England.

  Taylor was so sweet. She was moments from going on. The fans were out there waiting for her – twelve-thousand people chanting her name – but first she dashed back to see if I was okay. She’s a cool person and a real pro. She genuinely cared that I was hurt, but she had the show to do.

  “Hang in there, Justin. You’ll be all right.” She gave me a solid hug and was out the door, running for the stage. Her mom stayed with my mom, who was a little unnerved by the whole thing. We located a hospital where I could get X-rays and a cast. Not exactly the after-party I’d dreamed of when I imagined playing my biggest show so far.

  The next day, we went to an orthopedist who fitted me with an Aircast. On the outside, the hard shell looked like a stormtrooper boot from Star Wars. Inside, it had air cells that inflated to fit tight and immobilize my foot and ankle. This made it possible for me to continue performing, but, still, immobility and I are not good together. It drove me crazy that I couldn’t skateboard or play soccer or skate or much of anything else for eight weeks. I did all the media stuff and the shows, but I was hopping around on my one good foot like some peg-legged pirate.

  To summarize the whole broken-foot incident: it sucked.

  For one thing, it really hurt. For another thing, I was slated to perform at “Christmas in Washington 2009,” along with Usher, Mary J. Blige, Neil Diamond and a lot of other amazing performers. The night of the performance in Washington – I’ll admit it – I was nervous. It was a huge honor. And I wasn’t keen on the idea of
getting up in front of President Obama and a massive television audience in my stormtrooper boot.

  “I’m taking the Aircast off,” I told Mom and Scooter.

  They both said, “No, you’re not!”

  “Okay,” I said.

  As soon as they walked out of the dressing room, I took it off and pulled my shoe out of my backpack. It felt a little strange at first, but I wasn’t even thinking about it when I stepped out in front of the President and First Lady. I sang the great old Stevie Wonder song “Someday at Christmas,” then went back to the dressing room and quickly put the Aircast on before Mom could get to me. How about this for the greatest dodge of all time? “Sorry, Mom. Can’t talk now. Chillin’ with Mary J. Blige and Mrs. Obama.”

  Even with all that going on, Mom and I made sure that we were back in Stratford at Christmas, ready to play the gift exchange game and snarf down plenty of Grandma’s turkey and gravy. Some things never change.

  That was the Christmas where I met that girl and made out with her furiously for several days straight and we went on to have the most romantic relationship in the history of man. Wait... that did not happen. But I did have fun just pranking you right there while you sat excitedly in your room reading about it. Sorry, I just had to have a little fun. Next chapter. AW, C’MON!!

  CHAPTER 7

  JUST THE BEGINNING

  January starts the awards season in the music industry, and in the United States the biggest, most epic and most prestigious is the Grammys, of course. Seeing that I’d just gotten my album out five weeks before the end of the year, we weren’t expecting to be included, but I was asked to present with Ke$ha who was also a new artist that year.

  The two of us were to promo this upcoming interactive fan thing. Viewers were invited to vote on which song Bon Jovi would perform later in the show. Cool concept, right? I had to read a little blurb off the teleprompter: “You can still go to CBS dot com slash Grammys to vote on which song Bon Jovi will be playing in a matter of minutes.”

  But you know me – I can’t resist a good prank. After the long parade through all the media on the red carpet, having my mind blown every five seconds by the amazing people I was meeting, I got up there with Ke$ha and, to my delight, sitting in the front row was my longtime crush, Beyoncé. She was so beautiful. Sorry, Jay-Z, I’m not trying to hit on your girl but I’m just saying.

  “You know me... I can’t resist a good prank”

  “It was an amazing night I’ll never forget... it totally blew my mind”

  I decided to go for it, so rather than saying “Bon Jovi,” I said Beyoncé’s name instead.

  “I mean – I mean Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi,” I stammered. “Sorry. Beyoncé’s always on my mind.”

  Even though I did it on purpose, everyone in the audience thought I’d genuinely messed up. Gotcha! Even Beyoncé herself thought it was a mistake so she consoled me when I met her backstage. Oh sweet, sweet victory! Ha ha.

  It was an amazing night I’ll never forget. I got to meet so many of my idols like Lionel Richie, Dave Matthews, Quincy Jones, Lil Wayne and Mary J. Blige – and Jay-Z and Beyoncé of course. It totally blew my mind.

  The main music awards in Canada are the Junos and the MuchMusic Video Awards. I was nominated for New Artist of the Year at the Junos, but Drake edged me out. (Good game, Drake.) Miley Cyrus hosted the MuchMusic Awards, so that was win-win, no matter how you slice it. I was nominated and won UR Fave New Artist and UR Fave Video. I had two songs nominated for International Video of the Year by a Canadian, so I actually beat myself. (Good game, Bieb!)

  That was kind of a CHUCK NORRIS moment for me.

  NEVER SAY NEVER

  Usher reminds me on a regular basis that there will be a whole lot of awards given out during the course of my career. Some will go to me, some won’t. It’s an honor to be nominated and awesome to win, but you can’t lose sight of the real honors and victories that happen off camera. Like this letter I got a couple weeks after the MMVAs:

  * * *

  June 15th 2010

  Dear Justin,

  I am writing to you to thank you for something you have no idea you did... you helped me get through chemo...

  In October of 2009, I was scheduled to have surgery and found out afterwards that I had a malignant tumor. It was removed, but my parents were told that I had to go through a few rounds of chemo just to be safe. As much as I found this devastating, I knew I had to fight it all the way. The day after your concert in Toronto at the Kool Haus, I went into sick kids hospital to start my first treatment. I was very scared of what I was going to be put thru and how my body would react. The only thing that kept me going (other than my mother being by my side) was the fact that I was on stage with you the night before. You sang to me and afterwards gave me the hat right off your head.

  Your hat and your pictures decorated my hospital room each time I went for my treatments. I educated the doctors and nurses about Bieber trivia and many times even sang them a few of your songs. When I found the poking and prodding too much to bear, I simply looked at the picture of you and me on stage, smiled and got thru one more ordeal. I remembered you saying those famous words to me, “only you shawty” and everything seemed easier to handle. Words can never express how much that one seemingly little gesture helped me overcome the terrible disease my body was fighting.

  I am sure one day I will have the opportunity to meet and thank you personally, but until then,

  Your most sincere fan,

  Sabrina Moreino

  * * *

  “Every one of my fans is so special to me”

  This letter really touched my heart. Sabrina says when she lost all her hair during chemo, she wore the cap I gave her. It reminded me of that old Rascal Flatts song about Sarah Beth, a girl who’s going through chemo and loses her hair, but when she’s at the prom, dancing with a guy who cares about her, she’s not afraid. I can’t tell you what it means to me that I was part of that moment for Sabrina. She’s out of the woods now and on her way to a long, healthy life, but I’ll keep praying for her. People like Sabrina and so many fans I’ve met along the road have taught me to never forget to Never Say Never.

  Every one of my fans is so special to me. I love being in the studio, but not as much as I love performing live, because that’s when I get to connect with you. One of my favorite moments in every show is when I get to walk downstage, look right into those beautiful eyes and tell you,

  * * *

  If you need me, I’ll come running from a thousand miles away...

  * * *

  A lot of you have seen my adorable little three-year-old fan, Cody. Someone posted a hilarious video of her crying because she couldn’t see me. Two nights before my sixteenth birthday, I did Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Los Angeles and got to meet Cody and her family backstage. You should have seen her face when I walked in the door! (Seriously, check it out on YouTube. Her eyes got as big as baseballs.) Funny thing is, I was just as excited to meet Cody. Her YouTube video had us smiling for weeks.

  A couple of days later, we rocked the house with an amazing sixteenth-birthday party. Everyone was wondering if I’d celebrate by doing something crazy, but all I wanted was to spend time with my family, my friends and my team. We rented a house and filled it with the most incredible food, played basketball, swam, sang karaoke and even did sumo wrestling! It felt so good to just be a kid and be surrounded by people who truly love me for me. To top it all off, after that party I flew back to Canada and spent some quality time with my family there. And what did we do? We went bowling. I guess it’s not as extravagant as you might think from a recording artist, but at the end of the day, I’m still a regular kid. I don’t expect, nor do I want, anyone to treat me any differently.

  “We rocked the house with an amazing sixteenth-birthday party. We rented a house and filled it with the most incredible food, played basketball, swam, sang karaoke and even did sumo wrestling”

  PERMIT ME

  Even though I don’t w
ant to be given special treatment, I guess some things are a little bit different for me as I was surprised to be given a Range Rover for my sixteenth birthday.

  AW C’MON!

  I was feeling like it was pretty pathetic that I couldn’t drive it because I still hadn’t got my permit. I sneaked a trip around the block one day, and Mom came unglued at me.

  “Justin! You know you can’t be driving that car. You don’t have a license. You don’t even have a permit.”

  How lame is that? Sixteen and still hadn’t found time to get my permit.

  “I should have had it a year ago,” I told Mom. “At this rate, I won’t have it till I’m thirty.”

  “Okay,” she said. “We’ll clear a day next week. Top priority is you and me at the DMV.”

  I cleared the day with the team. The day arrived, and I texted everyone who ever owned a cellphone to tell them I was getting my driver’s permit.

  “Woo hoo! Driver’s permit! Forthcoming today! Freedom imminent!”

  “Did you study for the test?” Scooter asked.

  “Sure. Yeah. Well... you know... I thought about it. About driving, I mean. I’ve got it down cold. Don’t worry. I won’t fail the test.”

  “You should probably study up a little, Justin.”

  “I said I won’t fail the test.”