Justin Bieber 2011: A Year In Review

There are millions of Justin Bieber fans in the world and they are all devoted. He reached them with his music and much more in 2011 and together they just might be building something special. That is because any review of the year 2011 finds the Canadian star not just in concert, recording albums and appearing on TV shows, but also focusing on helping others. For Justin Bieber does not simply perform for his fans, he takes them with him on a mission of care, a mission to be kind, helpful and generous members of the world community. That penchant came to the fore in 2011.

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez on St. Lucia

The year 2011 began for the 16-year-old in the gossip columns. At the close of 2010 there were incessant rumors about him and an actor/singer two years older, Selena Gomez, star of the series ‘The Wizards of Waverly Place’. On New Years day photos were taken by a tourist of the two on a yacht on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean and the relationship was confirmed.

• Pictures of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez kissing in St Lucia

He may have got a boost from the media speculation about him and Gomez, but as it happened days later he passed Britney Spears to become the human with the second-most twitter followers on the planet, behind Lady Gaga. He’s still there in second with very nearly 16,000,000 followers. Other media successes in the winter included appearing on covers of the February issues of both ‘Vanity Fair‘ and ‘Mad Magazine.’

• Justin Bieber is One Step Closer to Being “King of the Internet”

2011 Winter Wins and Losses for Bieber

In February he lost the ‘Best New Artist’ Grammy to the unheralded American jazz bassist and singer, Esperanza Spalding. But his performance with mentor Usher & Jaden Smithat the awards show was a highlight and he took the loss gracefully. On ‘Chelsea Lately!’ the next evening he said positive things about the winner and vowed to work hard to be worthy of a Grammy in 2012.

• Justin Bieber on “Chelsea Lately” Febuary 14, 2011

A big victory for Bieber in the winter of 2011 was the release of his ‘3D biopic Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’. It was released first in Canada and by the middle of February was out all over North America and the world. The reviews from fans were great, with long line-ups and many seeing it twice or more; critics responded well and many celebrities who took their children, including boxer Mike Tyson, also loved the film.

• Miley Cyrus & Justin Bieber “Never Say Never” Behind-The-Scenes

There were more winter highlights, like his ‘Rolling Stone’ interview, playing the celebrity game at the NBA all-star weekend and being named the games MVP and making his second, and a final (his character was killed) appearance on ‘CSI; Las Vegas‘. There was a minor health scare while filming the CSI episode, he was taken to the hospital short of breath but in the end his doctor determined it was nothing more than a “minor allergic reaction.”

• Justin Bieber Hospital Trip After Allergic Reaction

Spring 2011: ‘My World tour’ back on the road

On March 1 he turned 17 by celebrating in L.A. with Selena Gomez and two days later it was time for Justin Bieber the road warrior to return. With his new haircut, and some of that hair, and a pair of shoes, being auctioned off for charity, Bieber returned to his My World tour by jetting off to Europe. Starting in the U.K. and Ireland he played Birmingham, Dublin, London, Manchester and other cities in the British Isles. He then went to the European mainland and did shows in major cities such as Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Zurich.

• Justin Bieber spent 17th birthday with Selena Gomez at Beverly Center Mall

He played Israel, Singapore, in Kuala Lampur and other cities in the region before flying to Australia and playing Sydney, Brisbane and 3 other cities. The tour was a success everywhere it went and reports back to North America often detailed Bieber and the extra care he took to meet as many fans as he could and express his gratitude to for all they’d done for him. A May 20 show in Tokyo was the final chapter of this leg of the tour and he returned to North America.

The Summer of 2011: Busy as a Bieber

Bieber has spoken how much he respects and is grateful for his manager, Scooter Braun, and all that he’s done for him. Along with his guitar man and musical director, Dan Kanter, Braun is a huge part of what Bieber is able to do. Braun was at his organizing best for the summer and he kept his singer busy and doing wonderful things, again not just with music but also with contributing to the world. Some of those 2011 events he pulled off: releasing a fragrance, Someday, with much of the huge sales going to charity; meeting Peyton Wall, whose Dad died in 9/11 and she’d asked U.S. President Barack Obama to arrange the meeting; he took Gomez to Canada to meet his family and spent time with hers in Texas; made anti-bullying PSA’s and with a family from Texas who lost a daughter to texting and driving he made a video on the dangers of doing so, and he continued doing work to promote Pencils for Promise, a charity that builds schools in impoverished countries. He also performed at award shows and did some winning at them, too, winning Billboard awards, a Country Music Television award, an award for the Best Jaw Dropping Moment (from his film) at the MTV Movie Awards and a Voices Award from MTV Europe to recognize his charitable work. He also hit the 11 million Twitter follower mark and crashed a wedding in Malibu, and for fun sang there, all in the same week in July.

Bieber and Gomez, Kingston; back on tour

There was a vacation in August where he spent time going to Selena Gomez shows, including one in Florida where he visited with friend, Sean Kingston. At this time rumors of a Christmas album started and he confirmed that there were plans to record with a view to putting out music for Christmas. He was enlisting stars like Taylor Swift and his mentor, Usher, along with Boyz II Men. A Christmas album was an idea many of his fans got excited about.

Bieber went back out on tour at the end of September and played dates in Mexico and then into South America, where he performed in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. The tour was sold-out and another success. It was the first time he toured to that part of the world.

In a busy fall he finished ‘Under the Mistletoe’ and released it in November. Continuing his ethic of hard work, and seeming to enjoy it, Bieber did a great deal of promotion for the album, appearing on David Letterman and with Ellen Degeneres, and many other shows, and by the time the Christmas season rolled around he was on specials like ‘A Michael Buble Christmas‘. A highlight was benefit concerts in Las Vegas, where he donated $100,000 to a school for needy kids (and an equal amount in toys) and in Canada, where he recorded a Christmas special and donated $500,000 to the Toronto chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation.

• Justin Bieber “Home For The Holidays” Performances

Justin Bieber: a 2011 to Remember

In 2011 Bieber played concerts in 52 cities, released and promoted a film, gave countless hours of his time, much effort and wads of money to charitable causes, appeared on dozens of TV shows and won a bundle of awards, he wrote songs and recorded a Christmas album and spent as much time with fans as his time would allow. All of that while trying to stay close to his family and conduct a relationship.

Not so bad and has he headed toward turning 18 he showed the leap of maturity he’d made during the year 2011 with a mature performance of the Lennon and McCartney song, Let it Be, on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Good Rockin’ Tonight (with Ryan Seacrest) on New Year’s Eve. But perhaps his most mature moment of the year, the one that showed his fans, and anyone else in the world who cared, that he his transition into a young adult performer was complete, came back at that benefit concert in Las Vegas.

The maturing Bieber sat in front of the students after performing and answered questions and after it was done he gave them sound advice as he left. “Be nice to each other and treat each other with respect and grow up to be people of character,” he told them, and then walked off the stage.

From a 16-year-old kid at the top of 2011 to a mature young man indeed.

DIGITAL JOURNAL