Justin Bieber

They did not want him lying on a slab in the morgue, a toe tag being the only thing that could identify who he was - and who he had once been. For weeks, the walls had seemed to be closing on him. Everywhere Justin turned, there was trouble of one kind or another. Cops in California found drugs in his posh Calabasas playpen two weeks before after a juvenile egg-throwing incident. While Justin would likely skate on vandalism charges, one of his hangers-on, Lil Za, was unlikely to be so lucky. Things were getting so hot in southern California that Justin decided to take a break with some pals, and his father, Jeremy Bieber, in sunny Miami Beach. "Justin had always loved the scene in Miami," a childhood friend said. "It was a lot wilder and there fewer eyes watching what he was up to. There were paps but it was nothing like Los Angeles." At the King of Diamonds strip joint on NE 5th Avenue on Jan. 21, Bieber helped rapper Lil Scrappy celebrate his birthday in style. The naked women roaming the club were quite happy too as the Baby singer spread the love to the tune of $75,000 in singles for their raunchy antics. Bieber and company, including his pal rapper Khalil Sharief, 19, had hunkered down at a posh beige palazzo in Miami Beach. This was to be party central, a headquarters of hedonism in the tropical metropolis. There, with his 38-year-old father, posse of pals and army of hangers-on, Justin was intent on having some big fun. And tossing out the rulebook. After reportedly smoking marijuana all day, Bieber and company hit the popular SET nightclub in South Beach. That went well with another long-festering rumor: Justin was spending more than $5,000 a week on pot. In addition to the reefer, Justin was also taking anti-anxiety drugs his mother had admitted giving him. The pills were to calm his rattled nerves. It was clear to everyone in his ever-expanding orbit that the pressure of being the biggest pop star on the planet was starting to get the better of him. In Stratford, Ontario, where he grew up, old friends were also becoming increasingly alarmed. They had watched anxiously as Justin's disastrous 2013 went from bad to worse. And nearly all of them blamed Jeremy Bieber. To them, Jeremy was wielding too much influence over Justin - who, more than anything wanted to please his father.