In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, entitled Believe. The following week, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce that the first single would be called "Boyfriend" and would be released on March 26, 2012.[65] The song debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, selling a total of 521,000 digital units, the second-highest-ever debut digital sales week.[66]Bill Werde of Billboard noted that it failed to debut at number one because the digital download of the track was available only through iTunes Store, "restricting the buying option for those that do not frequent the Apple retail store."[67] "Boyfriend" became Bieber's first single ever to reach the top position on the Canadian Hot 100 by debuting at number one and staying on for one week.[66]
His third studio album, Believe was released on June 19, 2012, by Island Records. The album marks a musical departure from the teen popsound of his previous releases, and incorporates elements of dance-pop and R&B genres. Intent on developing a more "mature" sound, Bieber collaborated with a wide range of urban producers for the release as well as some long-time collaborators, including Darkchild, Hit-Boy, Diplo, and Max Martin. Entertainment Weekly praised Bieber's musical shift, calling the album both a "reinvention and a reintroduction."[68] Rolling Stone noted the deeper voice and more "intense" beats found on the album, although it lampooned one of his euphemisms for newfound sexual maturity ("If you spread your wings, you can fly away with me").[69] Believe debuted at number one on theBillboard 200, becoming his fourth number-one album.[70][71][72] The album sold 57,000 copies in its first week in Canada, debuting atop theCanadian Albums Chart.[73]
The Believe Tour, which further promoted the album, began in September 2012 in Glendale, Arizona.[74] On December 14, 2012, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he announced plans to release an acoustic album titled Believe Acoustic, which was released on January 29, 2013.[75]
Bieber returned to Saturday Night Live as the host and musical guest of the February 9, 2013 episode. His appearance was panned by critics[76][77] and cast members, includingKate McKinnon, who stated that Bieber was not comfortable with his hosting duties, and Bill Hader, who stated that he did not enjoy the presence of Bieber or his entourage. Hader added that in his eight years on the program, Bieber was the only host who lived up to his reputation.[78][79]
On March 7, 2013, Bieber fainted backstage at London's O2 Arena after complaining of breathing problems throughout his performance and was taken to hospital.[80] Bieber cancelled his second Lisbon, Portugal concert at the Pavilhão Atlântico, which was to be held on March 12, due to low ticket sales. The concert on March 11 went on.[81] In mid-August 2013, a remixed duet version of Michael Jackson's previously unreleased song "Slave To The Rhythm", featuring Justin Bieber leaked online.[82] Later, a song titled "Twerk" by rapper Lil Twist, featuring Bieber as well as Miley Cyrus, also leaked.[83]
On October 3, 2013, Bieber announced that he would release a new song every Monday for 10 weeks as a lead-up to the film Justin Bieber's Believe, which entered production in May 2012 and was released on December 25, 2013. The film is a follow-up to Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, and Jon M. Chu returned to direct.[84][85][86] The first song of Music Mondays, "Heartbreaker", was released on October 7. The second song, "All That Matters", was released on October 14, followed by "Hold Tight" on October 21, "Recovery" on October 28, "Bad Day" on November 4, and "All Bad" on November 11. The seventh song, "PYD" featuring R. Kelly, was released on November 18; it was followed by "Roller Coaster" on November 25, and "Change Me" on December 2. The final song, "Confident" featuring Chance The Rapper, was released on December 9, 2013. That same day, it was announced that all 10 tracks will be featured on an upcoming collection called Journals. It reportedly featured five additional unreleased songs, a music video for "All That Matters", and a trailer for Believe. Journals was only available for purchase via iTunes for a limited time only: from December 23, 2013 to January 9, 2014. The titles of the five new additional songs are: "One Life", "Backpack" featuring Lil Wayne, "What's Hatinin" featuring Future, "Swap It Out", and "Memphis" featuring Big Sean and Diplo.[87]
