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Justin Bieber Tributes Paris Terror Victims After Halo Award Win, Leads Prayer At L.A. Show

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 02:00 PST, Nov 16, 2015

Justin Bieber fans can be very proud of the superstar. While accepting the first ever Hall of Fame award at Nickelodeon’s 2015 Halo Awards on Saturday (November 14), the 21-year-old asked the audience to mark a moment of silence for recent terrible events around the world.

“There’s been some sad things happening in the world right now, and I think that we should all honour that and just take one moment of silence for that, if you guys could,” Bieber said, alluding to the terror attacks in Paris on Friday and violence or disasters elsewhere.

The Canadian was at the awards show to receive the inaugural Halo Hall of Fame award in honor of his continuing work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Pencils for Promise, and other charities. Bieber also said he was grateful to Nickelodeon during his speech.

Billboard reports the New York City’s Pier 36 audience, where the show was held, became silent after the star’s request. “Let’s make this world a little bit better,” Bieber said, before asking kids in the audience to give themselves a round of applause.

Bieber’s Halo awards tribute comes one day after he led thousands of fans in prayer for victims of the Paris terrorist attacks and recent earthquake in Japan at one of his concerts in Los Angeles on Friday.

The prayer took place during the second of the pop star’s three Staples Center “An Evening with Justin Bieber” shows in Los Angeles on Friday, November 13. The shows marked the same day release of his new album, Purpose.

Shortly after the afternoon concert, tweets about the events in Paris and Japan were shared on Bieber’s Twitter page. He (or whoever else has access to Bieber’s social media accounts), wrote the following.

“Had a great first show but just heard about what happened in Paris. Thoughts and prayers with everyone #PrayForParis.”

Justin also tweeted hashtags for Japan and France, “PrayForParis #PrayForJapan.”

At the second Staples Center show (6 p.m.), when Bieber, his longtime pal and guide Pastor Judah Smith, and Los Angeles KIIS FM host JoJo Wright took to the stage to hold a Q&A, Smith and Bieber brought the 18,000-strong audience in prayer.

Pastor Smith spoke to the fans first, saying Justin’s “entire project is about people finding purpose even in the midst of their pain,” before asking fans to join them in prayer for “families in France and prayers in Japan.”

Bieber then prayed aloud, saying, “God, we just thank you so much. Through all the pain, through all the darkness, God, you still shine your light, God.”

The singer went on, “Help us to just focus on you through it all and not be distracted, God.”

Justin also acknowledged that when “things are out of our control,” it can be hard to trust.

He continued, “We just pray for their families and pray for restoration and just peace. I know…it must be so tough for them — I couldn’t even imagine. But, God, we just, we thank you and we just trust you. Even though it’s hard, and it’s hard for the families, we just trust you. In your name we pray, amen.”

With Justin’s nearly four years in the making Purpose album quickly hitting the No. 1 spot on iTunes after its release and garnering massively positive critical reviews, it seems the mix of audience support and the lyrics of one song in particular prompted tears from the singer at his third show on Friday.

JB

After performing acoustic versions of hits including “What Do You Mean?” and “Sorry,” Justin broke down in tears during his rendition of “I’ll Show You,” which he sang lying down at one point.

The song appears on Purpose and is about the singer’s reaction to being criticized by tabloids and other press, as well as his feelings of isolation, alienation, and pain.

The singer poked fun at himself, saying, “Why am I crying so hard? Got to get it together Justin,” and told the screaming audience, “We’re in this together, you know.”

“I gotta go,” Justin said, just before leaving the stage. Manager Scooter Braun embraced the singer as he came off.

Back in August, the Biebs famously broke down at the end his MTV VMA’s performance. He also recently revealed he suffers from depression in an interview with NME magazine.

He later explained his tears at the Staples Center on Twitter, writing, “You guys just got me crying. Damn. I missed this and u. Thank u so much. Thank you. #EveningWithJB #Purpose.”

Fans at the L.A. shows also watched the premiere of Purpose: The Movement, a short film directed by the famed Kiwi choreographer and director Parris Goebel. The 45-minute film is made up of 13 dance videos for each song on the standard edition of Purpose and rolled out in the same sequence as the album.

Justin dropped each music video on Saturday, November 14, on VEVO. He later thanked Goebel and the international dancers who contributed to the film. During an interview with iHeartRadio, he revealed his intention behind his album.

“The significance of my album is basically just to let people know that whether you lost your purpose, or you don’t feel like you have a purpose, it’s really important you find it,” said the singer.

The Halo Awards will air on Nickelodeon on November 29 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

[Images via Getty Images for Nickelodeon / Getty Images for Universal Music]

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