There are few cultural juggernauts as polarizing as Justin Bieber—haters will hate—but one thing is for certain: When it comes to the pop music arena, he’s unavoidable. Bieber is cool now, after years of not being cool, but the hits have remained consistent throughout all his career phases. A quick spin of 2013’s “Baby” will confirm it, but even as a teen heartthrob and a bad boy without a boy band, Bieber proved he’s got chops—a real idiosyncratic talent.
With four studio albums under his belt in a near-decade career (plus countless collaborations and guest verses) we’ve taken on the daunting task of finding and outlining the very best of the Biebs. The 2017 summer smash hit “Despacito” alone deserves its own book, but we’ll get to that! We're still waiting for the follow-up to his 2015 album, Purpose, but until that arrives, these are the 30 best Justin Bieber songs.
30. “As Long as You Love Me” f/ Big Sean (2012)
29. “Hold Tight” (2013)
28. “Recovery” (2013)
27. David Guetta f/ Justin Bieber “2U” (2017)
26. “Somebody to Love” (2010)
25. “Beauty and a Beat” f/ Nicki Minaj (2012)
24. “I Would” (2013)
23. “U Smile” (2010)
22. “Never Say Never” f/ Jaden Smith (2010)
21. “Catching Feelings” (2012)
20. “Home to Mama” f/ Cody Simpson (2014)
19. Travi$ Scott f/ Justin Bieber and Young Thug “Maria, I’m Drunk” (2015)
18. “Die in Your Arms” (2012)
17. “PYD” f/ R. Kelly (2013)
16. “Change Me” (2013)
15. “All Bad” (2013)
14. “I’ll Show You” (2015)
13. “One Time” (2009)
Album: My World
Label: Island Def Jam
“One Time” is the song that started it all. Bieber was a 15-year-old Canadian kid with the voice of a prepubescent angel, and the songwriting team of The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, and Kuk Harrell gave him the perfect song to soar over with this debut single. The video that dropped a month after the song's release was a major bonus, where the cherubic-faced Bieber plays video games, throws a party at Usher's house, and scores a kiss on the cheek at the end of the night. Times have certainly changed, especially when you consider what Usher's house would look like now if Bieber hosted an unsupervised party:
—Christine Werthman