I want Jackson-like fame: Justin Bieber

For 2012, Justin Bieber wants to maintain his squeaky clean image.

LOS ANGELES: Teen idol Justin Bieber turns 18 in March with a long and ambitious to-do list — to still be around at 30, to be as famous as Michael Jackson and to avoid singing about sex and drugs. “Hopefully by the time I’m 30, people will remember me,” the Canadian singer told V Magazine in a lengthy interview. “I don’t want people to just think of me as a teen sensation.”

But the “Baby” singer said he was determined to maintain the squeaky clean persona that has brought him millions of, mostly young, female fans, and their mothers. “I’m never going to make myself something that the kids and their parents don’t respect,” he said. “I want to be able to do what Michael (Jackson) did — he always sang clean lyrics. I don’t want to start singing about things like sex, drugs and swearing.”

Bieber, who has been dating Disney Channel star Selena Gomez for several months, added that he still had some growing up to do. “I’m into love and maybe I’ll get more into making love when I’m older. But I want to be someone who is respected by everybody,” he told the US fashion magazine.

Bieber released his first album at the age of 15, launching an international career and becoming the most searched person of 2011 on internet search engine Bing. But Bieber said he planned on staying around in the music industry for many more years to come. “It’s not a fluke that I am here. I am here for a reason, and I am here for a lifetime,” he said. “I also want people to know that I write my stuff. No one writes my stuff for me.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2012.