Over five years go, a young man named Scooter Braun was just trolling through YouTube (this was around the same time YouTube became popular, actually) when he discovered Justin Bieber, a scrawny songbird hailing from Ontario, Canada, through his YouTube channel. Braun somehow convinced Bieber’s mother to let him manager her son and got Bieber a meeting with Usher. The rest, as they say, is history. Bieber cut an album really quick, and it all became an instant hit: My World 2.0 hit shelves in 2010, launching Bieber into immediate superstardom. Besides his silky falsetto and all those dance moves that made the girls scream, Bieber was known for one other thing: his haircut.
One part bowl cut and one part “emo-kid-with-hair-in-the-face”, Bieber’s haircut became the “Rachel” of adolescent boys all across America. Some say he looked like a middle-aged lesbian, but that’s neither here nor there. There was a time when everyone in America was either talking about Bieber’s song, “Baby”, or his haircut: Those were pretty much your only two options. Of course, imitation is the highest form of flattery, and many a person copied Bieber’s ‘do, including many celebrities. From singers to athletes, some of your favorite stars were running to the barber and asking for the Bieber, dooming themselves to a new life of flipping hair out of your eyes. (And trust me, I know what it’s like to flip your hair all the time. I have bangs.) Let’s take a walk down memory lane to see who got Bieber’d, shall we?
Austin Mahone
After Justin Bieber became a giant star, other music labels tried to launch a host of similar artists to cash in on the return of the teen pop of the late 90’s/early 00’s. Austin Mahone was one of these characters, and he was Bieber-fied nearly to a T, down to the flaxen blond hairs on his head. It’s worth to note that he has since evolved from this horrid haircut, but there was a time when he and Bieber used all of the same products and sang the same music. Yikes.
Tom Brady
I’m not even a fan of the Patriots, and this is certainly the most egregious of the Bieber copycat hairdos. One day, Pats quarterback Tom Brady just showed up with his hair cut just like Justin Bieber. Was it a result of his wife, Gisele? Maybe one too many concussions from being sacked in the NFL? The world may never know. Luckily, this haircut only lasted a short time. I mean, doesn’t it get super sweaty in that helmet? I mean, you’re one of the best athletes in the world, Tom — you can’t be tossing your hair out of your eyes before every hut-hut-hike, you know?
Liam Payne
Bieber himself accused Liam Payne of One Direction of having Justin Bieber hair, because I guess that is something that young male singers call turf wars over? Also Liam’s Bieber ‘do was a little late, around 2012 to Bieber’s 2009. That Liam, always behind the times.
The Beatles
I mean, it was bad enough when one guy from a British boy band copied Bieber’s hair, but four of them, all at the same time? Have some self-respect, George, John, Paul, and Ringo, and get your own signature look, okay?
