DEF JAM'S BEAR-Y GOOD NEWS

Longtime Justin Bieber collaborator and Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer Poo Bear has signed a joint venture with Def Jam for label Bearthday Music.

Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd is known worldwide as the principal songwriting and production collaborator for Bieber's Purpose, his chart-topping fourth studio album, which featured the global #1 “What Do You Mean.” Poo Bear has landed multiple genre-bending smashes, including Usher's "Caught Up," Dan + Shay's "10,000 Hours" and the 13x-platinum “Despacito (Remix)” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee f/Justin Bieber.

Known for greeting everyone with a celebratory "Happy Birthday," Poo Bear has also worked with Jack Ü, J Balvin, Khalid, Billie Eilish, Mariah Carey, Ed Sheeran and many more. His catalog has registered sales of more than 350 million records worldwide, dozens of multiplatinum certifications and 100 billion streams and counting.

Interim Def Jam CEO Jeff Harleston announced the new deal on Thursday: “Poo Bear is one of the singular songwriting talents in music today. His innate ability to understand artists, to help them find their voices and to articulate the universality of a song is simply phenomenal. We’re excited to develop artists with Poo Bear according to his unique vision.”

“This is truly a dream manifesting to have the support of Def Jam and their belief not only in me but in the artists I believe in," said Poo Bear. "I’m looking forward to what’s to come from this promising new venture. Thank you to Lucian Grange, Jeff Harleston and Naim McNair for this opportunity. HBD!”

Back in the old HITS office, we became so good at consolidating birthday celebrations that there was only one day out of the year where you'd greet everyone with "Happy Birthday."