The Transformation Of Justin Bieber From 12 To 27 Years Old

As a culture, we’ve watched Justin Bieber grow from a bowl-cut, little cutie pie into a man and musician in his own right. The details of his story of origin are common news now to anyone remotely invested in pop culture: he grew up in Canada, was raised by a single mother, got found on YouTube, according to Billboard, and hit some rough patches along the way.

In fact, these rough patches defined much of Bieber’s bildungsroman enough that his reputation was, for a time, sullied. It seems to be the trajectory of any major pop star. Look at Britney Spears, look at Taylor Swift. For different reasons, any child star who still wants cred as an adult seems to have to pass through a stage of media-frenzied rejection. Whether this is fair or even ethical is another matter.

But Bieber has persisted, rallied, and quite honestly changed. So let’s take a look at this remarkable transformation.

Justin broke down crying while recording Lonely

Justin Bieber released a YouTube docuseries in 2020 called Seasons to give fans a more candid glimpse of his life. In a follow-up, called New Chapter, Bieber said that in moments throughout his life, he felt “really, really suicidal.” The echoes of Bieber’s statement sounds a lot like that of Meghan Markle in her famous interview with Oprah Winfrey.

It hasn’t been easy for Bieber and, to be fair, he’s also made some fumbles along the way. But, as GQ points out, Bieber never forgets these because he’s not allowed to forget them. “Justin Bieber has an encyclopedic knowledge of his public f**kups. He could recite his list off the top of his head, because he is asked to revisit its contents every time he is interviewed.”

In his song “Lonely,” Bieber sings about this exact experience. “Everybody saw me sick / and it felt like no one gave a sh** / They criticized the things I did as an idiot kid.”

The experience of recording “Lonely” was as challenging as it was honest. In an interview with Billboard in March 2021, co-writer Benny Blanco Finneas told the outlet that Bieber broke down crying while recording the song. He said, “This is the most honest Justin you’re going to get.”

Bieber doesn’t own a cell phone

Considering his younger days, Justin Bieber is considerably tame as a 27-year-old. In an interview with Billboard published on March 13, 2021, Bieber goes over his schedule. He stops work for the day at 6 p.m. to have quality time with wife Hailey Bieber, where they usually spend the evening watching a movie. He wakes up around 8 a.m. and meets with his management.

The most amazing detail of his daily life is that he uses an iPad for online communication because he doesn’t own a cell phone. Bieber has a specific reason for this lack of technology. “I definitely learned how to have boundaries, and I just don’t feel like I owe anybody anything,” Bieber told Billboard. “That has helped me to be able to just say no and just be firm in it and know that my heart [wants] to help people, but I can’t do everything. I want to sometimes, but it’s just not sustainable.”

It’s been a slow transition out of constant communication via a cell phone. In an interview with GQ from 2016, Bieber still had a phone at this time but never texted. “I don’t want people to feel like they can just get in contact with me that easy,” Bieber explained. So it was only a matter of time until he gave up his phone altogether.

Justin Bieber turned to faith after being ‘burned’ by people so many times

We’d be missing a major topic in Justin Bieber’s transformation if we didn’t talk about his spiritual journey. In fact, Bieber himself talks about his spiritual journey openly. But Bieber’s also been disappointed along the way. The famous Hillsong Church, to which Bieber belonged, announced in November 2020 that its pastor Carl Lentz, was fired for “moral failures,” according to People.

Lentz had been close to Bieber, even baptizing him and walking him through his relationship with Selena Gomez, so it was obviously a huge blow. But even before this disappointment, Bieber turned to religion because of being let down by people, so it was almost as if he saw it coming. In his 2016 interview with GQ, Bieber said, “I’ve had people that burned me so many times.” He added, “If we invest everything we have in a human, we’re gonna get broken.”

Bieber said, “It just gives me some sort of hope and something to grasp onto, and a feeling of security, and a feeling of being wanted, and a feeling of being desired, and I feel like we can only get so much of that from a human.”

Hailey Bieber is good for his career and him

Justin Bieber married Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) in New York at a private civil ceremony on Sept. 13, 2018, according to Vogue. They followed up on this intimate moment with a lavish wedding in Bluffton, South Carolina, per Billboard, almost exactly a year later in September 2019.

While the details of their romance and relationship are all over the internet, including both of their social media profiles, Hailey has proven to be an asset to Bieber even in terms of music output and, not to be crass, but business itself. Allison Kaye, who co-manages Bieber along with Scooter Braun, spoke of Hailey’s calming effect to Billboard in March 2021, calling her a “godsend.”

“There are very few people in my life where you’re like, ‘Everything’s going to be better if their spouse is here,'” Kaye told the outlet. “Days that I know Hailey’s coming to set, I’m like, ‘This is going to be the greatest day ever.'”

Bieber himself understands how much Hailey brings to his life: “One thing that has been so helpful is my wife is so by the book,” Bieber told Billboard. “She’s so structured and routine and so responsible.”

From boss to leader. just not a minister

Justin Bieber’s transformation is evident all around him. From a career that launched in 2009 thanks to Scooter Braun spotting him on YouTube, Bieber has taken on the world.

Rumors broke that he had aspirations to become a minister but Bieber debunked those stories. On Dec. 31, 2020, Page Six published a piece claiming that the pop star was planning on taking a leadership position at Hillsong Church after the church fired Carl Lentz.

However, on Jan. 4, 2021, Beiber took a screenshot of the article and shared it on Instagram Stories, according to Today, and denied the story. “I’m not studying to be a minister or anything even close to that. Have no desire for that. This is fake news,” Bieber wrote. “And BTW Hillsong is not my church. For clarity I am a part of Churchome.”

While Bieber isn’t taking on a traditional role of leadership in the religious sense, his growth is evident all around him. In regard to his apparent transformation, his co-manager Allison Kaye told Billboard: “He’s not even becoming a boss — he’s becoming a leader. It’s such a beautiful thing to see out of someone whom you’ve known since he was, like, 12.”

Justin Bieber

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John M. Cunningham graduated from Kalamazoo College in 2000 with a B.A. in English. He worked at Britannica from 2004 to 2018. A student of pop culture and the arts, he wrote about popular (and semipopular).

Encyclopaedia Britannica’s editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

Notable Family Members: son of Jeremy Bieber son of Pattie Mallette married to Hailey Bieber (2018–present) (Show more)

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Justin Bieber (born March 1, 1994, London, Ontario, Canada) Canadian singer and teen idol whose fresh-faced good looks and appealing pop songs sparked a global craze beginning in 2009.

Bieber was raised by a single mother in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, and as a child he learned to play the drums, the piano, the guitar, and the trumpet. In 2007 he participated in a local singing competition, placing second, and his mother posted a video of his performance on the Web site YouTube for friends and family who were unable to attend. She later uploaded other homemade videos, in which Bieber sang popular rhythm-and-blues (R&B) songs and occasionally accompanied himself on acoustic guitar, and they soon attracted attention beyond their originally intended audience. Among those who saw Bieber’s videos was Scott (“Scooter”) Braun, a music promoter and talent agent, who invited the 13-year-old Bieber to record demos at a studio in Atlanta. While there, Bieber happened to encounter R&B singer Usher and arranged an informal audition with him. Impressed by Bieber’s natural confidence and vocal talent, Usher helped sign him to a recording contract in late 2008.

In May 2009 Bieber unveiled his first single, the buoyant puppy-love song “One Time,” and six months later he released the seven-track EP My World, composed mainly of glossy R&B-influenced pop. By this time his audience had dramatically expanded to include countless preadolescent girls who considered him a heartthrob, and the recording sold more than one million copies. He replicated the feat with the full-length album My World 2.0 (2010), which debuted at number one on the Billboard album chart. Its lead single, the yearningly heartfelt “ Baby”—featuring a guest appearance from rapper Ludacris—reached the top five of Billboard’s singles chart, and several other tracks landed in the Top 40. The official video for “Baby” also became the first to amass more than 500 million views on YouTube. Bieber’s enormous popularity was boosted by his allegiance to social media such as Twitter and his frequent television appearances.

Later in 2010 Bieber released the album My Worlds Acoustic, featuring stripped-down versions of his songs, and published an autobiographical book, Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, a documentary film interspersed with 3-D concert footage, opened the following year. Bieber maintained his visibility with the albums Never Say Never: The Remixes (2011), a companion to the film, and the Christmas-themed Under the Mistletoe (2011), both of which hit number one in the United States and Canada. On the similarly successful Believe (2012) and Believe Acoustic (2013), Bieber introduced a more mature sound, with the hit single “Boyfriend” recalling the suave R&B of Justin Timberlake.

As Bieber entered adulthood, his celebrity often overshadowed his music. His romantic relationships (with Selena Gomez, among others) and his occasional skirmishes with the law brought him considerable tabloid attention. His 2015 album Purpose found an audience beyond his youthful fan base, with each of its first three singles reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Also in 2015, Bieber contributed vocals to Jack Ü’s Grammy Award-winning electro-pop hit “Where Are Ü Now.” Collaborations with other musicians followed, resulting in several popular songs. In 2018 Bieber married model Hailey Baldwin, and their relationship inspired Changes (2020). His sixth studio album, Justice, was released in 2021.

The Rise and Fall (And Rise) of Justin Bieber: A Timeline

Justin Bieber was just a kid from a small town in Canada when he was discovered by Scooter Braun, a twenty-something party promoter who came across the rosy-cheeked boy’s amateur but endearing home videos on the internet. He convinced Justin’s mom to let the 12-year-old fly to Atlanta, and a week later — or so the story goes — he was singing for Usher.

Justin’s fast ascent to fame didn’t happen overnight exactly, but within weeks he’d gone from humble surroundings to opening up on Taylor Swift’s world tour. The tween who got his start posting covers of himself singing other people’s songs on YouTube — these days, there are billions, but back in 2008, it wasn’t quite so commonplace — suddenly found himself performing in front of thousands of screaming fans who knew every word to his music by heart. By age 15, he’d already received marriage proposals to last a lifetime. Girls, perpetually sobbing, and paparazzi, constantly snapping, followed his every move.

But while his career was taking off, propelling him to superstardom, offstage he continued acting like an eighth grader. He was an international icon and a role model, but like most teens, he was still very much figuring things out. Unlike other teens, though, his adolescence, outbursts and all, were caught on camera and used as fodder for late night talk shows and tabloid covers.

Whether he hit rock bottom or not is up for debate; truthfully, he never really did anything that the average teen boy hasn’t done, or wouldn’t do if he had Justin’s bank account. (That said, the comically deep drop-crotch pants were a particularly low point, both literally and hypothetically.) And yet, he still felt he owed the world an apology. Earlier this year, he embarked on a regret-filled media blitz, kicking off with a Comedy Central roast and culminating with a song quite literally titled “Sorry.”

We’ve documented the highs and lows of both his career and his personal life, which are often at odds with each other. Having it all, it turns out, is even tough for teen boys.

2010
The highs: Justin releases his second album, My World 2.0, which soon goes platinum. A few months later, his first official headlining tour kicks off. “Baby,” his single featuring Ludacris, becomes an international hit and surpasses Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” music video as the most viewed — and also the most disliked — YouTube video in history.
The lows: He hires an official swagger coach and begins using the word “swag” as an adjective every change he gets. He tweets an apparent enemy’s contact info out to his million-plus followers. (“Everyone call me 248-XXX-XXXX 🙂 or text,” it read. The number was traced back to a teen in Detroit.)

2011
The highs: Justin releases concert documentary, Never Say Never, which to this day has an impressive success rate of turning non-Beliebers into converts. He confirms his relationship with Selena Gomez by renting out the Staples Center for a dinner-and-a-movie date night. He debuts holiday album, Under the Mistletoe which includes a “Little Drummer Boy” remix featuring Busta Rhymes. (On second thought, maybe that’s a low point?) He ranks #2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30, losing out to Gaga.
The lows: A fan named Mariah Yeater alleges he’s the father of her 3-month-old child; he reportedly takes a paternity test to prove otherwise. She eventually drops the suit, but not before tarnishing his reputation.

2012
The highs: Justin releases third album, “Believe.” He breaks up and then gets back together with Selena Gomez. They both perform at Jingle Ball. He signs fellow Canadian Carly Rae Jepsen after helping propel her debut single to fame (and infamy) with a lip-sync video also starring Selena Gomez and a bunch of other Disney stars who aren’t really stars anymore. They may or may not break up again before the end of the year. The lows: He’s pulled over for going 80 mph while trying to dodge paparazzi in L.A.; this is just the first of many car-related incidences. He’s the subject of a very mocking GQ cover story, in which he brags to the reporter about drinking beer. He goes on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to complain about not getting a Grammy nomination.

2013
The highs: Justin’s second concert film, Believe, hits theaters.
The lows: He announces on Twitter that he is retiring on Christmas Eve. He backtracks, but not before causing fury among all the reporters forced to write about a 19-year-old’s retirement on a holiday. He assaults a tour manager and is accused by a radio host of spitting in her Gatorade. He’s spotted by TMZ smoking marijuana, graffiti-ing in Rio de Janeiro, touring London in a gas mask, peeing in a bucket while ranting about Bill Clinton, and being carried up the Great Wall of China by bodyguards. He’s caught trying to sneak a pet monkey into Germany. And, worst of all, he visits the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and writes, in the museum’s guestbook, that he thinks she would have been a Belieber.

2014
The highs: Nothing, really.
The lows: He allegedly smokes so much weed with his entourage that the pilots of his chartered private flight were forced to wear oxygen masks. He throws eggs at a neighbor’s house, causing thousands in damage. He’s arrested in Miami for DUI, drag racing, and resisting arrest. Upon exiting the jail, he poses for a picture atop a car, then posts it on Instagram as a side-by-side with Michael Jackson, comparing himself to the King of Pop. He’s overwhelming bratty — hilariously so, really — in a deposition tape that was released by his now mortal enemy TMZ. He’s arrested on assault charges after his ATV collides with a mini-van. Seth Rogen tweets the following: “All jokes aside, Justin Bieber is a piece of sh*t,” which has since been retweeted 210,000 times. He later elaborated on a talk show, saying, “He seems like he’s obnoxious and ungrateful, insincere, and he puts people’s lives at danger with his horrible, horrible behavior, and overall he acts like a piece of sh*t”

2015
The highs: After putting on a brave face during his Comedy Central special, Justin quietly releases “Where Are Ü Now” with Jack Ü, a collaboration that propels his eventual comeback. He follows that up with a much-hyped single that manages to exceed all of his Beliebers’ — and, more impressively, the media’s — expectations. After that comes a triumphant and tearful VMA performance and an album that outsells One Direction and garners praise from mainstream media and indie publications like The Fader and Noisey alike.
The lows: There was an awkward interview with a Paris reporter, but that wasn’t really his fault. And he was photographed naked, but that also wasn’t his fault. And he was spotted on camera flipping over a chair in anger, and that was maybe his fault, but who can say for sure? Chairs are occasionally unstable. These days, Justin is anything but.