Justin Bieber: The Fever! - Softcover

Shapiro, Marc

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312678789 ISBN 13: 9780312678784

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2010

Synopsis

Justin Bieber is the world's hottest new pop star and every music fan's favorite heartthrob! After being discovered on YouTube, Justin's singles have taken the music world by storm! Since then his career has continued to heat up with an appearance as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and features on the covers of People and Billboard. Fans around the world can't get enough of him, and this book will answer all of their burning questions, including:

--What was Justin's childhood like growing up with a single mother?
--How has his life changed since becoming a pop superstar?
--What are the latest details on his next album?
--How did he teach himself to play so many instruments?
--Who are some of Justin's celebrity crushes?
--What are Justin's possible plans for the future?
--And much more!

With 16 pages of full-color photos, details of his wild 16th birthday party, his early dating experiences and crushes, and info on his hit singles, this biography is a must-have for every fan and the perfect gift! Get to know the real Justin Bieber, as never before!

About this title

About the Author:

Marc Shapiro is the New York Times bestselling author of J.K. Rowling: The Wizard behind Harry Potter, and many other bestselling celebrity biographies. He has been a freelance entertainment journalist for more than twenty-five years, covering film, television and music for a number of national and international newspapers and magazines.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Justin was looking forward to doing all the things a sixteen-year-old can do. First of all, he would be able to get his driver’s license and, he hoped, a car. But easily more important to the teenager was that he would now be allowed to date.
“My mother told me I could not date until I was sixteen,” he said in a People magazine interview. “She thought I wasn’t ready yet because I was too immature. But she said I would have her permission when I turned sixteen.”
Justin knew that after working really hard for nearly two years, he was ready to blow off steam and make his sixteenth birthday a memorable one. He talked to his mother about it first. Pattie had to admit that her son’s ideas for his party were extreme. But she also had to admit that he was in a position to make all his dreams possible. And who was she to deny him? Justin had come to
recognize pop stardom as a privilege and was always appreciative of what fame had done for him. He also gradually realized that, as long as he was not being totally unreasonable in his demands, he could pretty much get what ever he wanted, whenever he wanted it, just by asking.
His requests had never been what one would consider outrageous and so, with his birthday in sight, his big dreams suddenly took flight.
How big those dreams were became known on the Internet and other media outlets in mid-February, when the particulars of Justin’s party invitations, sent out to old friends, new friends, and important people in the music industry, were made public. What was planned as a three day party held at a private Malibu estate, would begin with the arrival of guests and a lavish birthday dinner on
February 27. February 28 would feature a private movie screening of The Book of Eli. March 1 would be the actual birthday bash, which would include a backyard pool-side barbecue, karaoke, sumo wrestling, laser tag, basketball, and air hockey, among other activities. The event would also offer guests such luxuries as an on-call chef, a gym, the use of a tennis court, and any number of video games.
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the invitation included a waiver and release for those under the age of eighteen, stating that participation in this party may involve serious injury or death. But the reality of Justin’s party was that it was going to be kid-friendly: no alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs allowed. Needless to say, word of the party spread like wildfire with fans trying to crash it at any
cost. However, security was tight and only those with an invitation and proper ID made it in.
Pictures from the party quickly leaked out and what they showed was a happy Justin turning sixteen and showing signs of shedding his preteen image. He was all smiles by the pool, often surrounded by young girls in sexy two-piece swimsuits. The shyness had dissolved and his smiling face was a sure sign that he was getting older and more worldly.
Easily one of the high points of Justin’s three-day party was the arrival of Usher, who brought down the house with his birthday gift, a brand-new Range Rover. Justin was beside himself with excitement. He was now old enough to drive, and he was old enough to date. Now, if he only had the time to do any of that.
Following his Malibu party, Justin flew to Toronto for a more intimate birthday party with his family and longtime friends. It was a different kind of affair. Nearly everybody there had known him before he had become famous and so the attitude was more relaxed and laid-back.
Despite his notoriety, nearly everyone had memories of what Justin had been like growing up, the things he liked to do, and where he hung out. Justin appreciated having this kind of grounding, a connection to the time before the whole world knew his name. But just as quickly, it was back to the new world that had become his world.
In keeping with the way the My World songs were released, the first cut from My World 2.0, “Never Let You Go,” was released to iTunes on March 2 to the expected positive reviews and a tidal wave of hits. The Boston Heraldsaid, “The promises of forever will undoubtedly delight the young girls who dream of spending eternity with pop’s newest heartthrob.” Rolling Stonereported, “The ballad is fully realized, mixing love struck lyrics with big, lovable choruses.”
For Justin, it was then back on yet another red-eye flight for another promotional jaunt on the other side of the world.
The first stop was Berlin, for The Dome 53 radio program on March 5. Justin was more than a little jetlagged but his spirits were raised when he was informed that back home he had been nominated in three diff erent categories in the annual Canadian equivalent of the Grammys, the Junos. He was in the running for Album of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, and New Artist of the Year.
Then it was over to London, where he appeared on the top-rated talk show Alan Carr: Chatty Man. And it was shortly after leaving that show that Justin, who as a pop star was already a hero, suddenly found himself a hero in a much more real sense.
When Justin left the studio, he was immediately confronted with a familiar sight— a wall of screaming girls pushing hard against a barricade and security attempting to protect him. He was fine with that until he happened to look down and spot a young child, perhaps no more than three, who had somehow managed to wriggle to the front of the crowd. The child looked confused and a bit frightened. Suddenly the crowd pushed particularly hard and the child fell down. The crowd was looming over the
child and would most certainly trample it. Justin did not have to think about what he did next. He reached dow and lifted the child up into his arms just as the crowd surged in, saving it from injury or much worse.
The next day he was off to the pop u lar morning talk show GMTV. During the interview he was asked whether or not he would ever consider dating a fan. Until now, that question was irrelevant, since he was not allowed to date, period. But since he had turned sixteen and his mother had given her son the okay, it was now a question worth contemplating.
“I don’t know,” he said on the show. “I think that it justdepends on what the situation is. I’m not going to limit myself.”
Justin was again highly visible on the charity front early in March, when he returned to Canada to help out Haiti. As Canadian singer- songwriter K’naan had already had a hit single with the song “Wavin’ Flag,” it was suggested that a cover, with the proceeds going to Haiti relief, would be a good idea. Canadian stars rallied around the concept. Under the banner Young Artists for Haiti, Justin, along with such celebrity stalwarts as Nelly Furtado, Drake, and Avril Lavigne, among others, recorded the song
during a quick session and happily watched as the song raised an incredible amount of money for Haiti relief.
Justin returned to the States and then, apparently more as a lark than anything else, appeared on the QVC Shopping Channel show Q Sessions to sing a few songs and do an awkward interview in an attempt to drum up presale orders for My World 2.0. That it came across to many as a total embarrassment did not seem to bother Justin or his handlers.
The QVC appearance was just another way of getting the word out that the release of My World 2.0 was a mere three days away. Not that any reminder seemed necessary at that point. The Internet had been abuzz for some weeks in anticipation of the album’s release. Some Web sites were literally counting down the weeks, days, and hours.
The second iTunes release, “U Smile,” was made available March 16, three days before the album’s release. Most critics seemed to understand the song’s old-school sentiments but Entertainment Weekly summed it up best when their critic called the song “a shimmery slice of blue-eyed soul.”
The album was unveiled with much hype and hoopla on March 19. Fans again lined up hours in advance for the chance to be one of the first to buy it. Copies were flying out of the stores. Insiders were not surprised. It would have been a colossal disappointment if the CD had not been successful. Once the dust settled, it became evident that the album was a smash-hit.
My World 2.0 debuted at 1 on the Billboard charts, selling 283,000 copies in its first week. That mark made Justin the youngest solo male act to top the charts since 1963, when a twelve-year-old Stevie Wonder accomplished the feat. When the album sold more copies in its second week than it did in the first, it made Justin the first artist since the Beatles to debut at number 1 and then sell
more copies the following week.
Like before, reviews were mixed, but the overwhelming majority seemed to get what Justin was all about. People magazine said that the album was a combination of “yummy rhythm-and-blues-flavored pop and a sweet soulful voice.” US magazine said the album offered “hard to resist rhythm-and-blues-flavored pop and uniquely grown-up vocal trills.” Entertainment Weekly praised Bieber’s “rhythm-and-blues swagger which reminded [the writer] of the early days of Usher and Justin Timberlake.”
Needless to say, everybody connected with Def Jam was thrilled at how quickly and how well the album had performed. The record label’s head honcho, L.A. Reid, had long championed Justin and would take every opportunity to praise his client. In a press release from the time of My World 2.0’s release, Reid exclaimed, “Justin is nothing short of a phenomenon. It’s so rare to find any artist
this young with such pure star quality, such a dynamic presence, and such musical gifts.”
Justin wanted to celebrate the release of My World 2.0, and rather than have the typical music industry party, he preferred to have some old-fashioned fun. Strings were pulled and soon Justin and...

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0312678789
• ISBN 13: 9780312678784
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224