Singer Justin Bieber cries onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo / Getty Images
Singer Justin Bieber cries onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo / Getty Images
Justin Bieber has opened up about his on-stage breakdown at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Bieber performed two songs, including his newest single What Do You Mean?, at the awards show and was visibly crying toward the end of his choreographed performance.
Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Bieber said he teared-up after becoming so overwhelmed by the positive reaction to his performance.
"Honestly, I just wasn't expecting them (fans) to support me in the way they did.
"Last time I was at an awards show (the Billboard Music Awards in 2013) I was booed," Bieber told Fallon.
Recording artist Justin Bieber cries onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo / Getty Images
"I think it's just like I've worked so hard at this album and becoming the man I want to become, and then stepping into situations you just can't help but feel judged."
Bieber said the emotional moment was genuine.
"I was just feeling judged and wanting to win so badly, and wanting to do what I love so badly that I just put everything on the line. And I think that that was what was so special about the emotional moment at the end, that it was authentic. It was real. I was really just wanting it so bad."
Bieber cemented his pop comeback this week, despite his slew of controversies, by breaking One Direction's first-week streaming record on Spotify with his new single What Do You Mean?.
The 21-year-old Canadian singer's song, about indecision set over a mellow dance-club beat, has been streamed more than 21 million times globally since its release on August 28, Spotify said.
The Swedish streaming leader said that the figure, which looked at only the first five days, already accounted for a first-week record.
The previous record, at 20 million streams, was set last month by British boy band One Direction for Drag Me Down, the group's first track since original member Zayn Malik left.
Since his last album Believe came out in 2012, Bieber has become a frequent target of jokes for his off-stage antics.
Among incidents, Bieber was caught racing a Lamborghini in Miami Beach while under the influence and without a license.
A judge separately ordered him to undergo anger management courses for throwing eggs at a neighbour's home in Los Angeles. A judge in Argentina recently dropped a bid to arrest him for allegedly assaulting a photographer.
What Do You Mean? is expected to appear on Bieber's next album which is slated for release on November 13 and whose title is not yet known.
Bieber has been working on the album, his fourth, with legendary producer Rick Rubin, who was an early champion of hip-hop, as well as electronic DJ Skrillex and rap superstar Kanye West.
