Renewed Purpose: How Justin Bieber is upping his live game

Promoting giant AEG Live has hailed Justin Bieber's development as a live performer in the wake of a sensational 12 months for the star.

The 22-year-old has played 110 shows worldwide since his Purpose World Tour opened in March, shifting 857,598 tickets for its 48-date European leg alone, which included 16 arena dates in the UK and wound up on November 29 with the last of six nights at The O2 in London. Global ticket sales have neared two million.

"Justin is really enjoying himself, on and off stage," Simon Jones, VP, live music, for AEG's Goldenvoice UK division, told Music Week.

"He's 22 years old and is now a fully-fledged global superstar, who likes to perform and wants to be on the road."

Bieber, who is represented by US-based CAA agents Marlene Tsuchii and Rob Light, has worked with AEG since his debut concert tour in 2010. "He has grown in his ability to control an audience," noted Jones.

"He is a consummate professional and a consummate performer."

The singer, who also headlined August's V Festival, returns to the UK in the summer for concerts at Cardiff's Principality Stadium and AEG's British Summer Time Hyde Park.

"We put the whole of the European tour on sale the week before Christmas in 2015 and pretty much all tickets sold immediately, so nobody's been able to buy a ticket for a Justin Bieber concert for a whole year," explained Jones. "He's had four or five more hits since then, so the demand is still there.

"Collectively, AEG Live, CAA and [manager] Scooter Braun - SB Projects - see that it's the right time to go out again and also visit markets that he hasn't been to for a long time such as South America and Australia, as well as coming back to Europe."

It marks a far cry from Bieber's last UK tour in 2013, when he drew scathing reviews after arriving late on stage for a concert at The O2.

Since then his profile has largely been transformed, although some of his onstage antics have continued to attract criticism in the tabloids.

"When you're on that kind of ascent, the press almost find it a sport to try and bring you down a peg or two," said Jones. "What they can't deny, is that he puts on a brilliant show."

Bieber made chart history back in January by becoming the first artist to simultaneously hold the Top 3 positions on the UK's Official Singles Chart. Sorry is his biggest hit single, with 1,917,145 units sold, followed by Love Yourself (1,835,264) and What Do You Mean? (1,664,381).

He also gained further chart success as a featured artist on Major Lazer's Cold Water and DJ Snake's Let Me Love You. Sales of Purpose, meanwhile, have topped a million (573,575 physical).

"People are into Purpose that nobody thought would be," added Jones. "It crosses over many genres and hits the notes in terms of garnering people's interest because it's got ballads, R&B, hip-hop and pop in there; it's crossed over so many boundaries.

"Scooter Braun has done a fantastic job in shaping Justin's career and Justin has done a great job to mould himself into a very accessible artist. He doesn't get enough credit for how talented he is."

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