How Our Cover Star Hit Rock Bottom—Then Found the Light

How Justin Bieber emerged from the darkness and found his own kind of normalcy.
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FROM THE EDITOR

Justin Bieber’s Amazing Grace

As you can see, Justin Bieber is on the cover of the May issue of GQ, with an epic photo shoot by our frequent contributor Ryan McGinley and a beautiful profile by our own Zach Baron.

At some point while we were tinkering with the cover layout, it dawned on me that Bieber is the third GQ cover subject in a row to delve into his Christian faith in our pages. So I couldn’t help but wonder (if I may have a Carrie Bradshaw moment here): Is God making a comeback?

Historically, bringing up Jesus has been a reliable way for celebrities to stonewall profile writers and sideline reporters while also projecting humility and faith. You know—no matter what question the interviewer asks, just thank God and you won’t have to answer it. But there’s something different going on here: From Russell Wilson and Ciara in our March “Modern Lovers” issue to Minari star Steven Yeun in April to Justin Bieber in this issue, the so-called “God stuff” has gotten deep.

This month, spirituality dominates our interview with Justin, and the results are riveting and downright biblical: Mired in loneliness and addiction, racked with shame, and going through an excruciating dark night of the soul, the pop star cries out to God.

Okay, I know how this probably sounds, but over the course of creating this issue, I developed a favorite among Justin Bieber’s tattoos. It’s huge, a little ridiculous, and on his abdomen—basically the Tupac “Thug Life” spot. I find it genuinely moving. It reads: “SON OF GOD.”

My own conception of God is a little different from Justin’s. I believe in karma and reincarnation. But I relate to Justin and his tattoo because my own pathway out of my own dark night of the soul required me to crack open my heart and allow myself to truly surrender to being a child of God. That surrender has been the most profound experience of my life. It has allowed me to not just feel loved but to actually be loved.

Not long after we decided to title Justin’s cover story “Amazing Grace,” I was driving to work listening to my favorite podcast of late, the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast. And there was an interview segment with TechGnosis author Erik Davis on the subject of grace that knocked me out.

“What is grace in Christianity?” Davis asks. “The important thing about grace is that it’s unearned.… Grace is unasked for and unearned. They call it superfluity: that excess of God that spills over into your ridiculous, sometimes miserable little life. That’s the moment of grace.”

There was a time when magazines like GQ weren’t interested in stories about grace—about the superfluity of the divine. But what other story is there?

Will Welch

Global Editorial Director

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