LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 2020: Justin Bieber poses during a new studio photo shoot August 2020 in … [+]

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Justin Bieber is on something of a musical hiatus at the moment, as he recently became a dad for the first time. As the pop singer cares for his wife and child, one of his songs is exploding in popularity once again, years after it first launched as a minor hit.

“Lonely” is quickly becoming a bestseller once more in America. The track sold nearly 1,500 copies last tracking week, according to Luminate. That’s not quite enough for the tune to reach any of Billboard’s rankings, though the cut is closer to cracking lists like the Digital Song Sales chart than it has been in years.

That 1,500 figure might not seem like a huge number, but it is very large when compared to how the single performed the week prior. “Lonely” sold fewer than 100 copies the frame before, meaning it experiences a 1,400% increase in pure purchases in the span of just a few days.

Bieber isn’t promoting “Lonely,” and its return to prominence is largely out of the musician’s hands. Fans online have collectively decided that the track, which details the singer’s loneliness and the price he paid for fame when he was young, was something of a cry for help. They have assigned new meaning to the tune, stating that it speaks to Bieber’s relationship with Diddy.

The hip-hop mogul is currently facing serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking after years of rumors of wrongdoing. More than 100 people have come forward to claim that they were assaulted by the rapper, or harmed by him in some other way. Diddy’s legal case is just getting started, but he was recently remanded to jail, as a judge refused his bail.

Diddy and Bieber were spotted together more than once when the pop musician was just starting his career. Several well-known, powerful men in the music industry, including Usher, helped him become the star he is today. While Bieber himself has seemingly not spoken recently about any inappropriate behavior he experienced, fans have nonetheless connected “Lonely” to Diddy’s indiscretions.

“Lonely” dropped in October 2020 as a collaboration between Bieber and Benny Blanco, who co-wrote and co-produced the track. The song was featured on both Bieber’s album Justice and Blanco’s Friends Keep Secrets 2. The single peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, and it earned both Bieber and Blanco a Grammy nomination.