A piano clip on Instagram, then two phone calls
On 19 March 2021, Justin Bieber released Peaches, with Daniel Caesar and Giveon, through Def Jam. The same day he released Justice, his sixth studio album. The song runs 3 minutes and 18 seconds. It is track 12. Bieber, Caesar (credited as Ashton Simmonds) and Giveon Evans wrote it with Bernard Harvey, billed as Harv, Luis Martinez Jr., billed as Shndo, Andrew Watt, Louis Bell, Matthew Sean Leon, Felisha King-Harvey, Aaron Simmonds and Keavan Yazdani. Harv and Shndo produced it. Harv played bass, guitar, keyboards and piano. Watt and Josh Gudwin worked on the vocals. Gudwin mixed the record. Colin Leonard mastered it.
The start was an Instagram clip. Bieber filmed himself at a piano and posted it. Harv, his music director since 2010, saw the clip. Shndo saved the audio, and the two producers built a backing track that day. Bieber re-sang the chorus, wrote a verse, and sent the file back. A few hours later he told Harv that Giveon was on the second verse. Giveon was already in a studio and wrote his part in about two hours. For two or three weeks the song was only Bieber and Giveon. Bieber then asked for Daniel Caesar, who was in Mallorca. Caesar sent a verse. Harv placed that verse second, between the chorus and Giveon’s lines.
What you hear first is the piano, then a soft bass, then three voices that do not sing at the same time. Bieber carries the chorus. Caesar and Giveon each take a verse, lower and slower. The beat stays quiet. The voices sit close, with little echo. It is nearer the R&B singles Caesar and Giveon were releasing than to Bieber’s earlier dance hits such as Sorry and What Do You Mean?.
Like two hours later, he FaceTimed me. Justin was like, ‘Yo, I think we got one.’ He was like, ‘I got Giveon on the feature.’ About a month later he called again: ‘Hey, let’s get Daniel Caesar on it.’
(Bernard "Harv" Harvey, Vulture, March 2021)
The video went up with the album. The three singers appear together in bright clothes, in a pastel set. A remix later added Ludacris, Usher and Snoop Dogg. A second remix, made in Nigeria, added Alpha P, Omah Lay and Masterkraft.
On the Billboard Hot 100 dated 3 April 2021, Peaches debuted at number one. It was Bieber’s seventh number one, and the first for Caesar and Giveon. In the week ending 25 March it drew 30.6 million streams in the United States and sold 16,000 downloads. Justice entered the Billboard 200 at number one the same week. Bieber was the first male solo artist to debut at number one on both charts at once. The song also opened at number one on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart. In 2021 it won Best Pop at the MTV Video Music Awards. At the 2022 Grammys it was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best R&B Performance and Best Music Video. The version to play is the one on Justice, from 19 March 2021, before either remix.
Rosa | 12 October 2026
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Read this, then put Peaches on loud. That was the move. Sharing this in the group chat. Expect chaos.
Louise | 13 October 2026
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Not overrated. If anything people forgot how tight Peaches is. I told my coworker and they shrugged. Their loss. That is all.
Jacques | 13 October 2026
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Opened the article, heard the riff in my head before the embed loaded. Classic. Also the comments section on old forums was wild about this.
Carmen | 14 October 2026
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Read this, then put Peaches on loud. That was the move.
Mike B. | 15 October 2026
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I came for Justin Bieber, stayed for how clean this write-up is. Peaches hits different after reading.
Ivan | 16 October 2026
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Bass line on Peaches is the whole argument. Rest is decoration. I told my coworker and they shrugged. Their loss.