Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in Stratford, Ontario. Bieber’s mother, Pattie Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant with her son. Bieber was raised as an only child by Mallette, who worked low-paying office jobs, though Bieber maintains contact with his father.^[10] As he grew, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.^[11] In late 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo’s “So Sick” for a local singing competition in Stratford and placed second.^[3] Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber’s popularity on the site grew.^[8]

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber’s videos by accident.^[10] Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber’s school, and finally contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant; she remembered praying, “God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label!”^[10] However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13,^[8] to Atlanta, Georgia to record demo tapes.^[10] A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B singer/songwriter Usher,^[12] who arranged an audition with Antonio L.A. Reid at Island Def Jam Music Group, who in turn signed him to Island Records in October 2008.^[8] Justin Timberlake was reportedly in the running to sign Bieber, but he eventually signed with Usher.^[13] Bieber and his mother then moved to Atlanta, also the home of Usher and Braun, to base his career.