Justin Bieber On Why He Credits Ariana Grande For His Return To Music

Following the release of his new album, Changes, Justin Bieber spoke with Beats 1’s Zane Lowe about his process and his trepidations about returning the music.

As pointed out by The Fader, Bieber credits Ariana Grande for giving him the confidence to make music again following his two-year absence. 

“I was dealing with a lot of fear… just even the process. What am I going to talk about again? Is it going to be received,” he said during the interview, saying that taking the stage with Ariana Grande at Coachella in 2019 was a much-needed confidence boost after not performing for two years. “I seen the reaction of how people reacted when I went on the stage. Just kind of reminded me, ‘Oh, this is what I do. This is what I’m good at.'”

The cold streak began for Biber following Lyme disease and the cancelation of his 2017 tour: “I was really tired emotionally, physically, and I was sick and I didn’t realize I was sick. So I had Epstein-Barr, which is like, it’s called Mono. And then I have Lyme disease,” he explained. “So it was that. It was just the exhaustion of just being on tour, and then it was just everything compounded.”

Bieber also spoke about his relationship with Billie Eilish, which you can read more about here.