When your friends who swore off pop music back in high school are humming along to "Love Yourself," you know something fundamental has shifted about Justin Bieber. Today, as the Canadian-born prodigy turns 22 years old, the world's perception of him is a far, far cry from the Bieber Fever pandemic of 2009-2011. Back then, you were either a teenage girl swooning at the sound of his smooth, high voice; a grown-up amused by his so-called Cinderella tale, smiling every time "Baby" came on the radio; or one of those people who rolled their eyes and waited until yet another child pop star inevitably burned out, blew up, or faded away. As recently as a year ago, we suspected that day had finally come. And then, the tide turned.This is not where we'll go on and on about Bieber's musical evolution. No, for the Bieb's birthday, we'd like to hop on our internet time machine and go back to a more innocent era. Here are a collection of quotes from the first years of Bieber's fame, when the 15-year-old was simply asked over and over again how he'd gone from YouTube star to Usher protegé, and how he got his hair to do that swish thing. Rather than suffering from a broken heart and lawsuits, he was battling mobs of girls in malls and complaining about homework.
As some music writers of the era will tell you, interviewing him was no easy task— though he was clearly a hard-working prodigy, he was still a teenage boy prone to mood swings that made him monosyllabic when he didn't feel like speaking to the press. (Just check out how many articles about him from 2009 feature tons of quotes from manager Scooter Braun and others around him, with barely a word from the boy himself.) But the lucky reporters who did catch Bieber on a good day managed to deliver us the picture of a determined young musician devoted to his fans, his mom, girls, and having fun, while still plotting a long-lasting career.
On Getting So Good, So Young
"If I want to learn something, I basically just do it until I perfect it. I started playing drums at 2 years old, piano at 5, guitar at 7. I really taught myself how to do it. I definitely consider myself a determined and hard-working guy."
— MTV, November 2009
On Meeting Usher
"Usher was going to the studio the same time as me and I ran up to him as fast as I could. I was like, 'Usher, Usher! I love your songs! You want me to sing you one?' He gets so many people every day asking him [if they can] sing for him and give him their demo, so I didn't get to sing for him. But a week later, Usher got to look at my videos and he flew me back to Atlanta, where I met him again and got to sing for him, and I guess the rest is history."
— NeonLimelight, August 2009
On Chuck Norris
"It was like, Usher and Timberlake want to meet me? Are you kidding? There was no point in trying to tell anyone at school about this. It would be like telling them I was going to meet Chuck Norris, and we all know that guy is untouchable. I mean, c'mon. It's Chuck Norris. He doesn't need Twitter, he's already following you."
— From memoir First Step 2 Forever: My Story, October 2010
On Being Canadian
"I'll never be an American citizen. You guys are evil. Canada's the best country in the world. We go to the doctor, and we don't need to worry about paying him, but here, your whole life, you're broke because of medical bills. My bodyguard's baby was premature, and now he has to pay for it. In Canada, if your baby's premature, he stays in the hospital as long as he needs to, and then you go home."
— Rolling Stone, February 2011
On The German Language
"I don't know what that means. We don't say that in America."
— Responding to a New Zealand host's joke that "Bieber" is German for "basketball." (Bieber later clarified that he knows what German is; he just thought the guy was saying "Jew-man.")
On Education
"I go to school like everyone else. I do Algebra, American History, English Literature and Biology. I don't really like Biology."
— MTV's Diary of Justin Bieber, February 2010
On Girls
"I had a lot of girls chasing me before this, but now, there's definitely a lot more."
— WatchMojo, August 2009
On Girls, & Beyoncé
"Nothing ever got my pulse racing (in a good way) like hockey. Well, nothing except Beyoncé, but that wasn't until I was twelve or so. Then, all of a sudden, it was like I opened my eyes one day and noticed that the world is full of beautiful girls, and I've had a hard time thinking about anything else ever since."
— From memoir First Step 2 Forever: My Story, October 2010
On His Other Special Talents
"I can do a Rubik's Cube in a minute and a half."
— The Guardian, November 2010
On Why Girls Love Him
"They think I'm good-looking. Not trying to be arrogant, but if I walked down the street and a girl saw me, she might take a look back because maybe I'm good-looking, right?”
— Vanity Fair, February 2011
On THAT Hairstyle
"I'd love to be able to say it was complicated, but I'm just chilling. My hair takes five minutes to do in the morning. I shower and as soon as I get out I just shake it and it just does that. For real."
— The New York Times T Magazine, March 2010
On His Ideal Girlfriend
"You can ask me about girls. It's all good. I like girls. Girls are awesome. Yeah. ...There are so many girls who would just do anything for me because of my status. Someone told me it's great to be with somebody who has just as much to lose as you do. ... Yeah. [Dating somebody famous is] probably a good idea. Because I can never date somebody who's so in love with me that she would do anything for me."
— The Guardian, November 2010
On His Other Ideal Girlfriend
Kim [Kardashian] said, 'I think Justin Bieber should date my sister,' and I was like, 'I think I should date you,' which might happen. Just kidding."
— Chelsea Lately, April 2010
On His Brain
"I'm crazy, I'm nuts. ... Just the way my brain works. I'm not normal. I think differently — my mind is always racing. I'm just…nuts. But I think the best ones probably are.”
— Vanity Fair, February 2011
On Abortion
"I really don't believe in abortion. I think [an embryo] is a human. It's like killing a baby. ... Well, I think [in the case of rape] that's just really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don't know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that."
— Rolling Stone, February 2011
On His Rebellious Nature
"Singers aren't supposed to have dairy before a show, but we all know I'm a rule breaker. Pizza is just so good!"
— From memoir First Step 2 Forever: My Story, October 2010
On Inspiring Fans
"I still [use Twitter] as much as before. People write to me and say, 'I'm giving up, you're not talking to me.' I just write them a simple message like, 'Never give up,' you know? And it changes their life."
— Billboard, March 2010
On How He Greets Fans, & Beyoncé
"It's like me meeting Beyoncé. What would I want Beyoncé to [say]? I'd want Beyoncé to be like, 'Hey, sweetheart, can I have a hug?' ... I met Beyoncé a little while ago, and that was amazing. I was a little nervous, but I was basically like, 'You're very good looking.' "
— Nightline, March 2010
On How To Treat Girlfriends, & Selena
"I'm just trying to make her happy, that's all. I think it's important to make all women feel like they're princesses, because every girl is a princess. I'm serious."
— Seventeen, April 2012
On Instant Fame Going To His Head
"It's crazy. There's a lot of people that have basically train-wrecked. I just have so many people surrounding me that are just great people. I plan to just stay grounded and it will be a good road ahead."
— WatchMojo, August 2009
On The Temptations Of Drugs
"Are you curious about cutting off your finger? Do you want to know what that feels like? To me, taking drugs is the same type of thing. In the end, all that happens is you get hurt by it."
— Rolling Stone, February 2011
On Staying Grounded
"Of course, I think that people are just waiting for that time when I make a mistake and they're gonna jump on it. There's gonna be so many people that are gonna try to bring me down. There's gonna be haters. People are just waiting for me to personally mess up. But I'm just a regular person. I'm going to make mistakes — everybody makes them. I don't think I'm perfect, by any means. But I've got such a great family, such great people surrounding me, that I know I'm not going to make a life-changing bad decision, as some people have. I've seen it happen too many times. I could be my own worst enemy, but I don't want to mess this up."
— Vanity Fair, February 2011
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