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Justin Bieber Scores First No. 1 In Australia With ‘What Do You Mean?’ Amid Immaculate Comeback

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 05:48 PST, Sep 5, 2015

Justin Bieber has scored his very first No. 1 single in Australia with his impressive, new smash hit “What Do You Mean?”

The 21-year-old superstar debuted atop the national ARIA Singles chart on Friday (September 5), setting a new record as the first male Canadian to do so this century.

The last male Canadian to top the Singles chart was Bryan Adams in July 1995 with “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” The last female Canadian to top the same chart was Carly Rae Jepsen in 2012 with “Call Me Maybe?”

According to Noise 11, Bieber previously charted as high as No. 3 on the ARIA Singles chart with “Baby” in 2010, and his still buoyant Jack U collaboration “Where Are U Now?” which peaked at No. 3 on that chart in April 2015. The singer also cracked the country’s top 10 in 2012 when “Beauty And A Beat” reached No. 9.

Australia will soon get a chance to welcome the pop star Down Under. Bieber is set to perform live from a custom-built location on Sydney Harbour during a promotional trip from September 27-30.

And the Bieber Fever continues. In addition to landing his first Australian No. 1 single with “What Do You Mean?,” the song delivered the singer his first ever UK No. 1 in the Official Singles Chart on Friday, while also setting a new record for the highest debut-week streams for a UK single.

The tropical-house-pop jam punched straight into the No. 1 position on the UK chart and also broke an official charts record. The song racked up the the highest first-week streams for a single ever in the UK, with 3.2 million plays across chart-reporting streaming services such as Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music, the Official Charts Company confirmed on Friday.

That 3.2 million dethrones the record previously set by One Direction’s “Drag Me Down,” which pulled in 2.03 million plays in its launch week after it was released on July 31.

“What Do You Mean?” is also Bieber’s fastest selling single in the UK, with combined sales of 84,000. This sum beats his previous best of 55,000 units with “Boyfriend,” which peaked at No. 2 back in 2012.

As well as scoring his first UK and Australian No. 1 with “Mean?” and setting a new streaming record for the highest first-week streams for a UK single, Bieber’s new track also set a new global streaming record and U.S. record on Spotify in its debut week after release.

On Thursday (September 3), Spotify revealed “Mean?” racked up more than 21 million global streams in its first five days after its release, making it the biggest first week-streams recorded at the platform. That figure has now been adjusted by Spotify to count the full seven days streaming, bringing “Mean’s?” plays in its first week to 31,688,150.

The irresistible new hit beats the record set just a few weeks ago by One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” on Spotify, which racked up 20 million Spotify streams in its first week. The Biebs now surpasses that record on Spotify with highest global first-week streams of over 31 million.

Bieber’s masterclass music return started at the beginning of the year, when he was announced as the brand new face and body of Calvin Klein Underwear and Jeans. “What Do You Mean?” the song’s record-breaking run kicked off with its digital release on Friday, August 28.

The single rocketed to No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes Singles Sales chart within five minutes after it dropped and went on to top iTunes charts in 90 countries. The track is the lead cut from Bieber’s upcoming new album, which is available to pre-order here, and is scheduled for release on November 13.

Two days later, Bieber performed the song live at the MTV VMAs, after singing his Jack U-produced EDM-Pop banger, “Where Are U Now?” At the end of his spot, which also featured an inspirational speech and “flying,” the singer broke down and cried onstage. The track’s cinematic music video premiered on Vevo shortly after the VMAs wrapped, and has since stacked up nearly 28 million views. The skater-centric lyric video has nearly 30 million hits.

Earlier this week, Bieber explained to Tonight Show host, Jimmy Fallon, that a mix of factors such as the VMAs occasion itself, his disappointment at missing cues, and the shock at receiving a standing ovation instead of boos from the audience, was “so overwhelming for me.”

Of his VMAs night, the Biebs admitted he also felt anxious because he has “worked so hard at this [new] album, I’ve worked so hard at becoming the man I want to become… you can’t help but feel judged. I was feeling judged and wanted to win so badly that I just put everything on the line.”

No. 1’s continue around the world for Bieber. Currently, “What Do You Mean?” sits atop the Asia Pop 40 Chart, and the Official Singles Charts in New Zealand, Ireland, and Norway.

The phoenixed Prince of Pop is expected to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with “What Do You Mean?” next week amid colossal streaming numbers and massive sales. The foot-tapper has already topped Billboard and Twitter’s top tracks charts, and — at this point — it’s abundantly clear that Justin Bieber’s comeback is nothing short of immaculate.

Bold new hair and on fire, guest hip hop features included.

Justin Bieber
(Photo: Justin Bieber on the red carpet at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angles on August 30)

[Images via Getty]

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