Platinum-Selling Pop Sensation Justin Bieber Scores #1 Album in the Nation With MY WORLD 2.0

NEW YORK, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- It is official: Justin Bieber rules the charts this week. One week after the release of his sophomore album, MY WORLD 2.0, Bieber now owns the #1 album on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

"Justin is nothing short of a phenomenon," says "L.A." Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group. "It's so rare to find an artist this young with such pure star quality, such a dynamic presence, and such musical gifts. Justin has captured the hearts and imaginations of his huge legion of fans in a way I've rarely if ever seen. This is an exciting time for Justin Bieber fans, for the Island Def Jam family, and for pop music in general."

With MY WORLD 2.0, Bieber becomes the youngest male solo artist to have a #1 album on the Billboard Top 200. And his November release, My World, stands at #5 on the very same chart.

Fans yearning to see the platinum-selling pop singing sensation will get their wish with his first headlining tour of North America. The "My World" Tour, presented by AEG Live and featuring Sean Kingston as special guest as well as label mate Jessica Jarrell, will open June 23rd at the XL Center in Hartford, CT, and blaze a trail through more than 40 cities before wrapping up in Allentown, PA on September 4.

MY WORLD 2.0, a new album of 10 all-new songs, is the follow-up to Justin's debut album, My World, released in November. My World, which earned RIAA platinum status in just a few short weeks, contained Justin's first four Top 40 hits on the Hot 100: "One Time" (certified RIAA platinum), "One Less Lonely Girl," "Love Me," and "Favorite Girl." Justin is the first solo artist in history to send four songs from a debut album into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 prior to the album's release.

Born in Stratford, Ontario, Justin Bieber is a multi-talented singer, and a self-taught musician on drums, guitar, piano, and trumpet. To date, he has surpassed 150 million YouTube.com views (the first 50 million of them as an amateur starting in 2007, posting renditions of his favorite hip-hop and R&B songs). Also in 2007, his manager Scooter Braun introduced Justin to the music industry in Atlanta. There he met multi-platinum superstar Usher, who signed the 13 year-old to his first professional deal and formed the RBMG joint-venture label with Braun and Antonio "L.A." Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.

SOURCE Island Def Jam Music Group