hold on justin bieber

People can't decide if Justin Bieber died at the end of his new music video for Hold On

Between new videos for Justin Bieber's "Hold On" and Drake's "What's Next," and a new album from Tory Lanez, the past few days have been huge for Toronto artists.

While Drake's music vid shows him riding the TTC and otherwise trekking around Toronto, Biebs opted for an action-packed mini-movie for his latest release.

And while fans are decidedly excited about the new content, they seem to be unsure of one thing about Justin's film clip in particular — what, exactly, happens at the end?

The video starts with the superstar racing through the streets of what appears to be L.A. on a motorcycle, a slew of cop cars in hot pursuit. It  then cuts to a tense conversation between Biebs and a crying lover, one of whom may be fatally ill, indicated by the tense meeting with a doctor that quickly follows.

The medical bills start piling up for the couple — in this fictitious world where Justin has the financial woes of a normal person — with the singer's unnanmed partner at one point whispering to him "I don't want to die" as she is shown getting progressively more sick.

Like any devoted sweetheart, Biebs makes the decision to do everything he can to save the one he loves — which is, in this case, holding up bank to pay for her treatment.

The 27-year-old's neck tats, grim facial hair and unwashed mane serve him well in his otherwise unconvincing role as a [toy] gun-toting robber, but don't help him much with the getaway part, during which he is shot by an officer.

Moments of his wife's struggle with cancer now flash before our eyes, cut with shots of his escape from the bank straight to her hospital bed as the lyrics "Take my hand and hold on, tell me everything that you need to say, 'cause I know how it feels to be someone, feels to be someone who loses their way" play in the background.

And it's here where listeners are torn — is the Stratford, Ontario, native seen taking his last breath at the end?

Unfortunately, despite much speculation and arguments for both sides of the narrative, there is no official word as to what exactly happens at the video's abrupt ending, and whether either of the lovers survive after their embrace on that hospital bed.

The mystery has definitely contributed to the fact that the song is trending today, though, released just one hour before Drake's vid and sitting at nearly a full million more views at the time of publication.

Lead photo by

Justin Bieber


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