Virtually famous: Madison Beer

It’s now five years since Justin Bieber first raised a glass to Madison Beer, then a 13-year-old who was posting cover versions on YouTube just like he once did.

Bieber tweeted his enthusiasm for her version of Etta James’s At Last, then in 2013 he made a cameo in the video for her first single, and the Long Island singer’s social media standing understandably leapt as a result.

She currently has 2.25 million following her on Twitter and a whopping 9.6 million gazing at her supermodel looks on Instagram. Her career as the next teen pop sensation hasn’t been quite so stellar, however. A handful of sugary singles didn’t become top 40 hits.

Now 18, a pivot into slinky R&B on a brand new song, Dead, sounds more like it. It’s much more grown up sonically and lyrically, throwing shade at a feckless ex with the cold chorus: “You say you can’t live without me/So why aren’t you dead yet?” She even drops a couple of F-bombs, if that can still pass for edginess these days.

It’s a fine tune, and should be the one to turn that online stardom into chart success at last. Beer could soon be cracking open the champagne.