In the wake of the Biebs' "worst birthday," concert collapse and odd decision to wear a gas mask to go shopping, everyone wants to know if the kid is headed for a full blown 'bald Britney' meltdown. God, we hope not. Before everyone starts using "Bieber" and "rehab" in the same sentence, we all need to calm the eff down. Though it's entirely possible that the kid is headed for some serious trouble, it's also entirely possible that he'll pull through and this bizarre behavior will be a blip. What we all should remember is that for every teen idol cautionary tale like Leif Garrett's, there's also someone like Paul Anka. The septuagenarian still tours! In that vein, let's take a walk down Tiger Beat memory lane and revisit more heartthrobs of yore like Anka to find out how they all fared. If nothing else, Scooter Braun should use some of these guys as a template to show Bieber how a career transition is done. And, if all else fails, there's always a show on Vh1.
Paul Anka:Highlights: The '50s teen crooner found major success with hits like "Lonely Boy," "Puppy Love" and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" and was able to make a fairly smooth transition into an adult performer. In fact, the 70-year-old is still touring the country singing, and you can catch him tonight at the
Chumash Casino Event Center in California. How 'bout that!
Eddie Fisher:Highlights: The recently deceased Fisher was famous first as a teen idol and then for his marriage to Debbie Reynolds. He made real headlines, however, when he ditched Debbie for Elizabeth Taylor, à la Brangelina in the '60s. Struggles with drugs and alcohol followed and Fisher fell off of the pop charts. He resurfaced in later years when daughter
Carrie Fisher sold her memoirs and famously reconciled with him.
Ricky Nelson:Highlights: Rising to fame in
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, a show largely based on his own family, Nelson became a pop star but sadly died in 1985 in a plane crash. In 1987, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
David Cassidy:Highlights: Cassidy was every '70s girl's dream as Keith Partridge on
The Partridge Family. Following the end of the show, Cassidy had additional TV roles, though none as high profile. Today Cassidy lives in Florida with his third wife and continues to tour as a singer.
Donny Osmond:Highlights: The breakout of The Osmond Brothers, Donny went on to host a variety show with his sister, Marie, called
Donny and Marie. By the late '70s, his career was waning but a decade later, he recorded more music that had fair-to-middling success. Osmond has performed on Broadway and hosted the game show
Pyramid.
Davy Jones:Highlights: The Monkees frontman who, sadly,
passed away yesterday, made tons of girls swoon. With hits like "Girl," "Daydream Believer" and "Last Train to Clarksville," the Monkees proved they were more than just a manufactured boy band. Jones continued to sing and act even once the Monkees disbanded and lived a successful, and by all accounts happy, life.
Leif Garrett:Highlights: Born to showbiz parents, Garrett acted in movies such as
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and
Walking Tall as a kid but made his real mark on the
Tiger Beat set with his music career. At 14, however, Garrett started experimenting with drugs and, at 17, crashed his car while high, leaving the other passenger -- who was also his best friend -- paralyzed. After a brief stint hosting VH1's
8-Track Flashback, Garrett was arrested for trying to purchase drugs from undercover cops. After more arrests and stints in rehab, Garrett released another album in 2007,
Three Sides of...Scott Baio:
Highlights: Known to many as Chachi on
Happy Days and, later,
Joanie Loves Chachi, Baio also recorded a few albums in the 80s before starring in
Charles in Charge. Most recently the actor resurfaced in the late aughts with two VH1 reality shows,
Scott Baio is 45...and Single and
Scott Baio is 46...and Pregnant, which centered on his life as a ladies' man and, later, as a new father.
Corey Feldman:Highlights: One of "the Coreys," Feldman burst onto the scene with roles in
Stand By Me, The Goonies, Gremlins and
The Lost Boys. After struggling with drug addiction, Feldman went to rehab and cleaned up his act. Most recently, he appeared on reality shows
The Surreal Life and
The Two Coreys, which centered on his friendship with fellow '80s idol, Corey Haim.
Corey Haim:Highlights: The other member of "the Coreys," Haim got his start with roles in
Lucas and
The Lost Boys. Like Corey Feldman, early fame and success led to excessive drugs and partying for Haim. He wasn't able to replicate his success in the '90s and '00s aside from appearing with Feldman in
The Two Coreys. Tragically, Haim died in 2010 after an apparent overdose at the age of 38.
Kirk Cameron:Highlights: Everyone's favorite (and hot) big brother, Mike Seaver, on
Growing Pains, Cameron married a
Growing Pains guest star, acted in a few more low-profile roles and found religion. The born-again Christian and his wife founded Camp Firefly, a camp for seriously ill children. He also has a television ministry called
The Way of the Master.Andrew Keegan:Highlights: The bad boy every '90s girl (or gay boy) had a crush on, Keegan is probably most remembered for roles in
Camp Nowhere and
10 Things I Hate About You. Though his
imdb shows that he's still acting, his days in the spotlight are gone (but perhaps a
10 Things I Hate About You reunion will bring him back?).
Jonathan Taylor Thomas:
Highlights: The
Home Improvement star also had memorable roles in
Tom and Huck and
The Lion King before leaving acting to enroll at Columbia. A few months ago his TV mom, Patricia Richardson,
tweeted that JTT was acting again and "wants to direct."
Usher:Highlights: Biebs' mentor had success as a teen R&B artist and blew up in the mid-aughts with hits like "Yeah" and "Burn" from
Confessions. Also, he was in
She's All That! He's still a successful singer who recently played the Super Bowl.
Freddie Prinze Jr:Highlights: A late '90s/early aughts dreamboat with lead roles in
She's All That, I Know What You Did Last Summer and
Scooby Doo, Prinze married '90s/00s dream girl Sarah Michelle Gellar (a.k.a. Buffy), with whom he has a daughter. For a brief time in the late '00s, Prinze worked at WWE as a producer before leaving in 2011.
Paul Walker:Highlights: Another '90s/00s heartthrob, Walker's photos plastered many a middle school locker after roles in
She's All That and
Varsity Blues. He followed up with more adult roles in
The Fast and the Furious franchise and continues to act.
Aaron Carter:Highlights: Riding the late '90s boy band wave, Backstreet Boy
Nick Carter's little bro had success with pop hits like "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)." (Also: Remember when Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff
fought over him?) After struggles with drugs and stints in rehab, Carter is now in the off-Broadway revival of
The Fantasticks, playing
shirtless DJ sets in East Village bars and letting Buzzfeed reporters ask about his
"horny level."Justin Timberlake:Highlights: The one-time N'Syncer has had a hugely successful career as a solo artist and actor and should deeply consider joining the cast of SNL full-time. He
is reputedly engaged to married Jessica Biel and just released his third solo studio album,
The 20/20 Experience.
This story was originally published on March 1, 2012