Justin Bieber busking aged 12: The video that caught Scooter Braun's eye and started his career
2 June 2025, 20:14 | Updated: 3 June 2025, 17:08
It was the moment that Justin Bieber got his future manager's attention and sparked a journey to global superstardom.
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Justin Bieber was once just a 12-year-old boy with a guitar, busking on the steps of a Theatre in Ontario, Canada.
Long before the sold-out arenas and global fame, Justin's street performances were simply a way to earn enough money to take his mom to Disney World — but they would end up launching one of the most remarkable careers in modern pop music.
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His mother, Pattie Mallette, who began uploading his performances to YouTube so that distant friends and family could watch.
She had no idea those homemade videos would catch the eye of an Atlanta-based talent manager named Scooter Braun, and change everything.
In 2007, young Justin Bieber took to the sidewalks outside the Avon Theatre in Stratford, captivating passersby with his soulful renditions of popular songs.
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Armed with a guitar and a passion for music, he performed covers of artists like Ne-Yo and Chris Brown, drawing crowds and earning between £100 and £150 a day during the tourism season.
Videos of these street performances began to surface on YouTube and one such video caught the attention of Atlanta-based talent manager Scooter Braun.
While browsing YouTube, Braun stumbled upon the video of Bieber's performance and was immediately struck by his talent.
Determined to meet the young singer, Braun tracked down Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, and convinced her to bring Justin to Atlanta for a meeting.
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There, Bieber met R&B superstar Usher, who, along with Braun, recognized the boy's potential. This meeting led to a recording contract with Island Def Jam in October 2008, and the formation of Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.
Video of Justin Bieber busking aged 12 in Stratford, Ontario:
The Star of Stratford, Canada- Justin Bieber (before he was famous)
"I grew up in a really rural town, Stratford, Ontario, with 30,000 people.
There’s a big festival thrown in the town. A lot of people travel from all over the world to see it, and growing up, I actually used to busk on the street." Bieber told Martha Stewart in Interview Magazine in 2015.
"I’d play my guitar, sing, and people would throw money in the case. That was really fun, and I actually got enough money to bring my mom to Florida to go to Disney World, because I always wanted to go but we never had enough money.
"Honestly, it was never something that I was going to do for a living. At 13 you’re not even thinking about that, you know? I was just playing for fun and uploading videos on YouTube because I wanted to show my family. That’s when Scooter found me."
Justin Bieber returned to busk on the same steps in 2012:
Justin Bieber Busking in Stratford - June 16th 2012 - Baby
In a later interview with Business Insider, Braun recalled speaking about the unconventional way he coached Justin online, and the intimate acoustic videos that propelled the young star to fame.
"If you watch Justin's early videos, I never let him say, 'My name is Justin Bieber' and then start singing — he always just sang," Braun said. "And the reason I did that was I wanted you to feel like you were in the room. Or maybe you were seeing something you weren't supposed to see.
"We started to see ten thousand impressions. A hundred thousand impressions," he said about the early days of Justin's videos.
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"Finally, we got our first million and I can tell you, it's really great to see the company we have now but when we got our first million impressions on YouTube I was in my apartment, in Atlanta, in my underwear, dancing."
Bieber's rise was meteoric. His 2009 debut single, 'One Time', quickly gained popularity, and his debut EP, My World, turned him into a teen pop sensation.
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But despite his global success, Bieber has never forgotten his roots.
In 2012, he returned to Stratford and performed once again outside the Avon Theatre, much to the delight of fans and locals.
This impromptu performance was a heartfelt nod to the place where it all began, reminding everyone of the young boy who once sang on the streets with dreams of making it big.
Videos of Bieber's early busking continue to circulate online, offering a reminder of how raw talent and a single upload can launch a global career.
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