Christmas comes early: Justin Bieber announces 'retirement'

Is Justin Bieber's retirement for real?

The news will either make you rejoice or sob into your mince pies. Probably the former, as Justin Bieber has announced his retirement from music on a Los Angeles radio station.

The 19-year-old Canadian pop star answered a question about his future with the statement: "Um, I'm actually retiring man".

Power 106 FM then tweeted further quotes from the Baby singer, with one reading: "I want to grow as an artist and I'm taking a step out, I want my music to mature" - @justinbieber #JustinBigBoy106."

Whether Bieber was joking in the interview remains unknown, but a video clip posted by the station this morning seems to shows him speaking with a straight face.

His UK representatives were unavailable for comment and the singer has yet to confirm the news on his Twitter account.

Bieber went on to assure fans he is not as "arrogant" as people think, telling Power 106 that he has "always been a caring and giving person."

"I'm 19, I'm gonna make mistakes, it's inevitable," he said, referring to the string of recent controversies connected to him.

How his 47 million Twitter followers will react should the singer truly be planning a break should be interesting, as the 'Beliebers' are renowned for being one of the most dedicated fanbases in the world.

Tweets have already been flooding in from shocked, worried and despairing fans. Yes, there are many out there:

If you're serious about You want to quit music, no please don't @justinbieber . You and your music are the reasons why I'm still happy

Don't quit music please..retiring is fine. but whatever way you choose your beliebers are here for u. @justinbieber