Music Friday: Justin Bieber Wants to Be 'Your Platinum, Your Silver, Your Gold'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, platinum, silver and gold take center stage in Justin Bieber’s 2012 hit, “As Long as You Love Me,” a song about how true love conquers all.

The 29-year-old Canadian-born superstar employs three noble metals in the reprise to illustrate the power of love.

He vows, “As long as you love me / We could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke / As long as you love me / I’ll be your platinum, I’ll be your silver, I’ll be your gold / As long as you la, la, la, la, la… love me.”

One might wonder why an artist with a net worth estimated at $300 million would co-write a song referencing hunger and homelessness, but Bieber did, in fact, endure a hardscrabble youth being raised by a single mom in low-income housing.

“As Long as You Love Me” is the third track of Bieber’s third studio album, Believe. Both the single and the album were huge commercial successes. “As Long as You Love Me” charted in 20 countries and Believe made its debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart.

Born in London, Ontario, Canada, in 1994, Justin Drew Bieber loved to perform as a kid. In early 2007, he placed second in a local singing competition. Bieber’s mom, Pattie, posted a video of his performance on YouTube, and then added videos of her gifted teen singing covers of various R&B songs. In a twist of fate, a music executive happened upon one of them.

Music legend states that Scooter Braun accidentally clicked on one of Bieber’s videos — thinking he was watching a 20-year-old doing a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” The impressive performer was, in fact, a 13-year-old Bieber.

Braun tracked down the youngster in Canada, and with the permission of Bieber’s mom, introduced him to singer-songwriter Usher, who soon became his mentor. Bieber was then signed by record executive L.A. Reid and the rest is music-industry history.

Bieber has amassed an impressive list of accomplishments — all before his 30th birthday. He has sold an estimated 150 million records worldwide, making the two-time Grammy winner one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

He has nearly 92 million followers on Facebook, 111 million followers on Twitter and 293 million followers on Instagram.

We hope you enjoy the video of Bieber’s acoustic version of “As Long As You Love Me.” The clip is from the Ellen Degeneres Show in December of 2012. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“As Long As You Love Me”
Written by Nasri Atweh, Rodney Jerkins, Sean Anderson, Andre Lindal and Justin Bieber. Performed by Justin Bieber.

As long as you love me (love me, love me)

We're under pressure,
Seven billion people in the world trying to fit in
Keep it together,
Smile on your face even though your heart is frownin'
But hey now, you know girl,
We both know it’s a cruel world
But I will take my chances

As long as you love me
We could be starvin', we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I’ll be your platinum, I’ll be your silver, I’ll be your gold
As long you la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la, love me
As long you la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la, love me

I don’t know if this makes sense, but you’re my hallelujah
Give me a time and place, and I’ll rendezvous, and I’ll fly you to it,
I’ll beat ya there
Girl you know I got you
Us, trust
A couple of things I can’t spell without you
Now we are on top of the world, ’cause that’s just how we do
Used to tell me sky’s the limit, now the sky’s our point of view
Man now we stepping out like whoa (oh God)
Camera’s point and shoot,
Ask me what’s my best side, I stand back and point at you, you
You the one that I argue with, I feel like I need a new girl to be bothered,
But the grass ain’t always greener on the other side,
It’s green where you water it
So I know we got issues baby true true true
But I’d rather work on this with you
Than to go ahead and start with someone new
As long as you love me

We could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I’ll be your platinum, I’ll be your silver, and I’ll be your gold
As long as you love, love me,
As long as you love, love me

As long as you love me
I’ll be your silver, I’ll be your gold
Love me,
As long as you la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la, love me
As long as you la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la, love me
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love me

Credit: Image by Jakub Janecki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Aussies Who Pop the Question With a KFC Onion Ring Can Win $80K Wedding

To promote its new BBQ Onion Ring Burger, KFC Australia is offering an AU$80,000 wedding to a couple that does the most creative job documenting their onion ring marriage proposal.

The Aussie division of KFC is encouraging couples to tie the knot "Kentucky style," which apparently means removing an onion ring from a chicken burger, getting down on one knee and placing the delectable, but a tad greasy, treat on your lover's ring finger.

To enter, couples must submit a photo of the proposal, a 15-second video that introduces themselves and conveys their love for KFC, as well as a 100-word statement about why they deserve to win a KFC Wedding.

"The more creative, the better!" notes the instructions on the entry form. The contest began yesterday and will run through November 27.

The best onion ring proposal will earn a wedding package valued at AU$80,000 (US$50,700), with the following breakdown:

-- Up to AU$30,000 towards one KFC Food Truck to attend and cater the KFC Wedding;
-- Up to $15,000 towards a KFC stylist to theme and decorate the KFC Wedding;
-- Up to $35,000 towards additional wedding costs (including outfits and entertainment).

KFC Australia's latest gastronomic concoction consists of an Original Recipe Chicken Fillet, cheese, lettuce, a new sweet and tangy BBQ sauce and, most importantly, two onion rings (one for the proposal and the other to be kept in reserve, just in case of a jittery mishap). The special sandwich is a limited item, ending November 27.

“At KFC, we’re always looking at life on the fried side," KFC Australia CMO Tami Cunningham said in a statement. "We know our customers love our fried chicken and their partners, so what could be better than combining KFC and weddings?”

The contest is open to everyone in Australia 18 years of age and older, and the winning couple must agree to schedule the wedding within one year of the promotional drawing date.

Credit: Image via KFC Australia.

Two Design Innovations Highlight Denver Nuggets' 2023 NBA Championship Rings

The Denver Nuggets' 2023 NBA championship rings are loaded with exciting Easter Eggs, including two never-before-seen design innovations — a bonus ring-within-a-ring as well as a special lever that changes the background gems on the team's logo from blue to white.

When discussing what kind of special features might be included in the ring, Nuggets president and governor Josh Kroenke was clear to designer Jason Arasheben that he didn't want anything that's been done before.

Arasheben, the CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills, worked with Kroenke, six Nuggets players and his own creative team to come up with elements that were truly unique.

The Nuggets' 2023 championship ring is the first to feature a ring in a ring. A retractable compartment reveals a smaller yellow gold ring hidden inside the larger white gold ring. The yellow gold ring, which is topped with the NBA championship banner, is less ostentatious than the host ring and can be worn separately.

The second unique design element is a lever that can alter the gemstones seen behind the mountain peak and pickaxes logo on the face of the ring. The blue sapphires represent the 2023 Nuggets, but the background can change to white diamonds — a nod to the team's 1967 origin as an ABA team. The Nuggets merged into the NBA in 1976, along with three other ABA teams.

"We're one of four franchises that were merged to the NBA from the ABA so we have that date on there as a nod to our ABA past, which I wanted to make sure we acknowledged," Kroenke told ESPN.com. "And all the players and coaches will, no matter where they go with that ring, always have the banner with them as well, which I think is a very special and unique feature."

Overall, the ring contains 17 individual components and more than 16 carats of yellow and white diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Each gemstone represents one of the team's official colors and the gemstone total weight signifies the number of Nuggets' playoff victories achieved on the way to the championship.

Overlaying the Larry O'Brien trophy on the face of the ring, the team name "NUGGETS" is rendered in 24 points of yellow diamonds, an acknowledgement of the team's 24 years at Denver's Ball Arena.

The 89 points of rubies encircling the ring's shoulders is symbolic of the number of points scored by the Miami Heat in the deciding championship Game 5. Below the rubies and above the finger hole, the number 5280 in raised white gold lettering represents Denver's altitude above sea level.

On one side of the ring is the player's name in polished gold lettering against a contrasting gold-nugget-textured background. Below the player's name is his number rendered in white diamonds, and below the number is the team's 2023 slogan, "BRING IT IN."

The other side of the ring features the words "WORLD CHAMPIONS" along with the team's retro logo and 2023 regular season record of 53-29. Above the words are a row of 15 diamonds symbolizing the 15 playoff games played at Ball Arena during the championship season.

Credits: Images courtesy of Jason of Beverly Hills.