In the fifth and latest episode of his 10-part YouTube docuseries series Seasons, Justin Bieber opened up about his struggles with physical and mental health in the last decade since becoming a worldwide pop icon.
The somber, 10-minute episode, The Dark Season, premiered on Monday and focused primarily on not only the 25-year-old’s recently revealed Lyme disease diagnosis, but for the first time, his troubled past as a drug abuser.
The Canadian musician revealed he quickly went from simply smoking marijuana at the age of 13, to much harder drugs throughout his teens and early twenties that made him concerned that he was nearing his deathbed.
In the episode, Bieber shows the viewers the spot behind his childhood home in Stratford, Ont., where he first smoked cannabis.
Bieber’s recreational discovery came just after he established an audience from his street performance videos which were posted to YouTube.
On why he used the drugs, he said: “It was just an escape for me. I was young, like everybody in the industry, or in the world, who experiment.”
“There was a time when I was sipping lean, popping pills, doing Molly, ‘shrooms, everything,” he added.
The Yummy singer later admitted that being in the spotlight was ultimately what made him feel pressured into trying harder drugs. Before becoming addicted, he revealed he simply wanted to retain an image in front of those who surrounded him during the peak of his fame.
Bieber continued: “My experience was in front of cameras and I had a different level of exposure. I had a lot of money and a lot of things.”
Hailey Bieber, bride of the much-beloved entertainer, revealed that she didn’t want to get involved with her now-husband again until he got sober.
She said: ”Justin and I were never really in each other’s lives until he chose to get sober and was trying to come off of the drugs.”
As well as that, Bieber revealed he decided to get clean because he felt like he was “dying.”
“I decided to stop because I felt like I was, like, dying.”
“People don’t know how serious it got,” he said.
He continued: “I’ve abused my body in the past and now I’m just in the recovery process. I’m committed to getting better because I know ultimately being the best me is going to help me be the best husband, the best father, the best friend I can possibly be.”
Rather than wasting his musical “gift,” Bieber said, “It’s up to us as individuals to use the gift that we’ve been given, whatever it may be, to contribute” and “make a change.”
In conclusion, he said: “For all the fans that want to enjoy the music that I make, I can’t do it if I’m not healthy, and I haven’t been healthy for a long time.”
Now that he’s recovering and making his way back to the music scene, Bieber has confirmed he’s planning to release his upcoming fifth studio album, Changes, next Friday on Valentine’s Day.
To support the highly-anticipated album, he will embark on a North American tour this summer.
YouTube Premium members can watch the latest episode of Justin Bieber: Seasons, The Dark Season, here.
Bieber’s North American leg of the tour includes 45 shows with four Canadian stops:
Sept. 1 — Ottawa, Ont. @ Canadian Tire Centre
Sept. 3 — Quebec City, Que. @ Videotron Centre
Sept. 10 — Toronto, Ont. @ Rogers Centre
Sept. 14 — Montreal, Que. @ Bell Centre
For additional tour dates and further updates, you can visit the official Justin Bieber website.