So far, so teenage rock’n’roll rebellion. As Rod Stewart tutted last month, “Justin Bieber wants so much to be a bad, bad rock star. But you either are or you’re not – you can’t fake it. He tries too hard.” Such has been the extent of the one-time golden boy’s fall from grace that he’s become a pop culture punchline. In the recent Hollywood comedy Ted 2, Morgan Freeman’s lawyer addresses the errant talking teddy bear thus: “I’ve read about your life: the drugs, the parties, the prostitutes, the arrests… You’re special. You could have been an inspiration to the world. A leader. A role model. Instead you’re… Justin Bieber,” he intones with distaste. “There’s just no indication that you’ve had any positive effect on the world around you.”
But in late 2015, the message bugles loud and clear: all that is behind him now. Certainly in terms of that musical ‘maturation’, things are so far going well for Bieber. What Do You Mean?, the first single from Purpose, the pointedly titled and long-awaited follow-up to his 2012 album Believe, entered the US charts at number one. In the UK it also hit the peak spot. The sparkly electronic pop song is his first chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic.
But in late 2015, the message bugles loud and clear: all that is behind him now. Certainly in terms of that musical ‘maturation’, things are so far going well for Bieber. What Do You Mean?, the first single from Purpose, the pointedly titled and long-awaited follow-up to his 2012 album Believe, entered the US charts at number one. In the UK it also hit the peak spot. The sparkly electronic pop song is his first chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic.
