His problems included urinating into a bucket, allegedly mistreating a monkey and egging a neighbour’s house. Hers involved balancing the pressures of fame and extraordinary singing talent while struggling with a dependency on drink and drugs.
Nevertheless, Justin Bieber has said that he identifies with Amy Winehouse. In a recent interview, the Canadian pop star and amateur drag-racer told NME that, like her, he had been abused by the media – in his case, while “rebelling against everybody and everything, and being a normal 19-year-old”.
Bieber said: “I watched the Amy Winehouse documentary on the plane and I had tears in my eyes because I could see what the media was doing to her, how they were treating her. People thought it was funny to poke her when she was at rock bottom, to keep pushing her down until she had no more of herself. And that’s what they were trying to do to me.”
In a lament echoing the time-honoured complaints of rock stars down the ages, Bieber added: “I just want people to know I’m human. I’m struggling just to get through the days. I think a lot of people are. You get lonely, you know, when you’re on the road. People see the glam and the amazing stuff, but they don’t know the other side. This life can rip you apart.”
However, Bieber has found comfort from one source: Kanye West. Bieber said that the rapper gave him advice as he made his forthcoming album Purpose – which has already spawned two worldwide hits, Where Are U Now and What Do You Mean?
“Out of anyone in the industry who is creative and I see eye to eye with, he really gets me,” Bieber said. “His advice is always just, ‘make music that’s so good people can’t hate on it’.”
