Justin Bieber brought thousands of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival attendees on a deeply personal journey Saturday night, stepping back into the YouTube videos that launched a global superstardom.
The Stratford, Ontario native — now 32 — huddled up to a laptop on the Coachella stage in Indio, California, after performing songs from his latest album Swag II and a duet with Australian artist Kid Laroi. What followed was a karaoke-style performance featuring clips from his early YouTube covers, reminding the massive crowd exactly how it all began.
Bieber sang harmonies over his own teenage self performing "Baby," "Favorite Girl," and "That Should Be Me" — hits that defined his initial rise to fame. The contrast was striking: the 32-year-old's deeper voice blending with his child-star versions in their signature swooped hairstyles and casual bedroom settings.
From School Talent Shows to World Tours
The setlist dug deep into Bieber's earliest recorded moments. A 2007 performance of Ne-Yo's "So Sick" — filmed at what appears to be a school talent show — showed a 12-year-old Bieber in a white shirt and black tie. Within just two years, that same kid would be touring the world promoting My World and My World 2.0.
One of the most talked-about moments came when Bieber pulled up a video of him covering Chris Brown's "With You" — recorded 18 years ago on a cheap blue couch with bad lighting. The video has since garnered 64 million views, a testament to how the internet has preserved every moment of his journey.
"Do you really know me from back then?" Bieber asked the screaming crowd, creating an intimate moment despite the festival's massive scale.
Confronting the Darker Moments
In a bold move, Bieber even revisited one of his less flattering viral moments — a confrontation with paparazzi. Playing the clip, he reflected on his growth: "I'm a dad, I'm a husband. It's not clocking to you that I'm standing on business, is it?"
The performance came months after Bieber opened up on Instagram about the emotional toll of his rapid ascent to fame. "People keep telling me to heal," he wrote to his 291 million followers in June. "I know I'm broken. I know I have anger issues. I tried to do the work my whole life to be like the people who told me I needed to be fixed."
Despite those struggles, Bieber's Coachella set showcased a more grounded artist — one willing to laugh at his own past while acknowledging how far he's come.
Closing with the Present
About an hour into his performance, Bieber left the laptop behind and returned to his recent material, bringing out guests Dijon, Tems, and Wizkid to close the show. He finished crouched with the microphone as fireworks exploded above his name — a fitting end to a set that celebrated both his past and his present.
This story is based on reporting from CBC News.