In the 1970s, there was no bigger teen idol than Leif Garrett. He exploded onto the scene with hit songs, screaming teenage fans, fame, fortune, and every trapping money can buy... and then he lost it all when he began drinking, drugging, and acting out, to the point that he maimed his best friend as an end result of driving while intoxicated. Justin Bieber, does any of this sound familiar?

But that's not the only similarity between the two pop stars. In fact, the duo have a lot in common. For instance:

  • Both had volatile relationships with high-profile girlfriends: in his heydey, Leif dated Knots Landing sex-bomb Nicollette Sheridan. The duo had a tumultuous relationship, and we're sure that if Instagram, text messaging and the Internet existed in the 1970s, the duo's relationship's foibles would have had all the sizzle and spice of Bieber's hot-and-cold relationship with actress and pop cutie Selena Gomez (yes, even all the way down to the "talentless pu--y" comments).
  • Both had respectable acting credits: Leif starred in the critically acclaimed movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, as well as the TV shows Family Affair and Wonder Woman. Bieber did his turns on CSI and Saturday Night Live, and will soon star in a Mark Wahlberg-produced movie about "inner city basketball."
  • Both did charity work: Perhaps to counter-balance the obligatory trash-storm that follows their high-profile screw-ups, both did their fair share of charity work.
  • Both had chart-topping singles: Bieber had "Baby":

Leif had "I Was Made For Dancing":

I'll avoid the obligatory observations of how they look and sound remarkably alike in their respective videos.

  • Both put out "bad boy" images in order to break away from their "teen idol" status: Bieber's obviously going through it now. Leif, for his part, started behaving increasingly reckless as well.
  • Both had well-documented drug issues that caused problems for the people around them: Bieber is reportedly a fan of cocaine, marijuana, and lean (codeine). Leif preferred (and continues to prefer, given his recent arrests) heroin. As we know, until recently, Bieber had his friends take the fall for him -- Lil Twist and Little Za -- whereas Leif went one step further: On Nov. 3, 1979, three days before his 18th birthday, Garrett crashed his car while under the influence of methaqualone and alcohol. The accident left his passenger and best friend Roland Winkler a paraplegic. Although Garrett publicly promised to look after Winkler, the Winkler family filed a $25 million negligence lawsuit against him. Garrett insisted that he did not have the money, and the suit was eventually settled out of court for $7.1 million, leaving the friends estranged until Winkler was approached by VH1 to film a 1999 episode of the television series Behind The Music. The episode featured Garrett's reunion with an apology to Winkler. 

It's perhaps this last fact that makes Leif more qualified than others to speak about Bieber's current troubles -- while no one was injured during Bieber's drunken escapade drag-racing in a Lamborghini, the possibility still existed (so, Beliebers, please stop defending his actions and tweeting "Free Bieber" -- you wouldn't feel that way if he had injured your family member, or killed your child, or caused your best friend to become a paraplegic), hence why he gave an interview to Fox411 about some of the cold, hard facts of being a teen star. 

"Do not believe your own publicity. Sussing out who your real friends are is full-time work. Every scum bag, every drug dealer, every chicken hawk wants a piece of you," he said. "The average lifespan of a teen idol is five years. You have to change musically. Bubble gum pop was good for the first time you have sex. They didn't want to give the OK on some really good music. It was the frustration of being signed to that label. I was depressed. My heroes and A&R guys on the bus were doing drugs so I was doing drugs."

And he continued with additional advice, which also gives some insight as to why Bieber has been acting the way that he has. "When you've got that sort of power at that young age, and everything at your doorstep, you put out that bad boy image," he explained. "At that age, testosterone, hormones, all of the money, you see what else you can get away with. I did plenty of crazy stuff, but I did a lot of charity stuff. You can't stop. You want to continue to taste, and sometimes that's crazy, stupid things." 

Finally, he gave some hope to the fact that even though Jelena are going through their share of troubles right now, they will always have a connection, so perhaps a chill pill is needed on both sides. "The craziest good thing I did was fly Nicolette Sheridan to New Zealand and bought a diamond. We were toasting her being there with champagne. I dropped the diamond into her glass and she almost swallowed the diamond. He (Bieber) rented out the Staples Center for her. Fame, money is what tore us apart. Nicolette just started modeling. My career was pretty much there. We would get along great or clear rooms. That's the whole thing with Justin and me. There was no in between ... really good or really naughty," he said. "We don't talk that often as we used to. We'll always be connected."

Mark Wahlberg, who is producing the movie that will feature Justin, and was once a teen idol himself, has a slightly different take on Bieber's latest travails. "He's a kid! Let him live his life. He's a teenager, obviously living in a different day and age. Everybody's got a cell phone and paparazzi everywhere," he told Yahoo! TV.

But Wahlberg seems to be on the same page as Garrett when it comes to the average life span of a teen idol, and agrees that Bieber shouldn't expect to be a teen star forever. "This career can be short-lived. You might as well be the best you can while you're doing it, while you're in the game."