This world-famous singer and songwriter went from a young teen pop star to a successful R&B artist and has met fans of all places and backgrounds while traveling the world on tour. Does this star know sign language?
It’s thought that Justin Bieber does not know sign language. Bieber knows his native English and has learned conversational French, Spanish, and Japanese over the years, but has not learned sign language.
Read more below to find out about sign language interpretations of Bieber’s songs and where the curiosity about his knowledge of sign language may have come from.
Songs in Sign Language
While Bieber does not know sign language himself, many people who know sign language have created covers and interpretations of his hit songs. Official ASL and other sign language versions of songs give Deaf and hard of hearing people the ability to fully experience as well as perform an artist’s music.
In sign language covers of songs, different inflections and emotions in a singer’s voice are represented by the movements and expressions of the interpreter, so the subtle sounds and sentiments of the music are translated into visual actions.
Bieber is a popular artist to sign to, as many fans have posted on Twitter about performing his songs. As this fan posted, “So. I just learned “baby” by justin bieber in sign language. I wish [I] could meet him to show him!”
Signing songs is also a way that many people get better at using sign language. As this fan posted on Twitter, a fan “signed the beginning of Ludacris’s rap from the song Baby by Justin Bieber for her ASL homework.”
Check out the YouTube video below to watch an artistic American Sign Language interpretation of Justin Bieber’s song, “Love Yourself.”
Body Language
Many fans became curious about whether or not Bieber knew sign language after hearing his new album, Changes, released in February of 2020. The song “Take It Out on Me” from the album includes the lyrics, “Let your frustrations out right here / I’m your psychiatrist, let’s talk about it / We can use sign language, I know your body.”
Bieber isn’t referencing actual sign language in the song, but a different kind of body language, which Karen Donaldson, a body language expert and author, has analyzed through many different pictures of the couple.
How people physically interact with each other, how close or far apart they are, and other factors can reveal important things about their relationship. For example, in analyzing this picture, Donaldson said that their body language indicates a “solid emotional as well as physical connection. Sitting in this position indicates a highly loving relationship and that the passion is still very strong.”
They both opened up about their relationship in a 2019 interview with Vogue. “One of the big things for me is trusting myself. I’ve made some bad decisions personally, and in relationships. Those mistakes have affected my confidence in my judgment. It’s been difficult for me even to trust Hailey,” he admitted.
Their friendship dates back to 2009 when they first met. “I was never a superfan, of him or of anyone. It was never that crazed, screaming thing. I didn’t think about it in any kind of way except for the fact that he was cute,” Hailey said.
“Over time, he became my best guy friend. I was running around with him as his homie, but we weren’t hanging out [romantically],” she went on. So their relationship was solidly built on their friendship to start, and while they had briefly dated before, they remained connected through their faith and religion.
Hailey and Justin have often said that they bring balance for each other, as Hailey acts more logically and doesn’t always get the emotional side of things, while Justin is the opposite.
“I’m the emotionally unstable one… Hailey’s very logical and structured, which I need,” he said.