SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Call it the Canadian dynasty of teenybopper pop and movie stardom.
Genealogists at Ancestry.com say they've discovered that teen idol Justin Bieber is a distant cousin of movie star Ryan Gosling and pop singer Avril Lavigne. The Utah-based company announced Thursday that the celebrities' family link dates back to some of Quebec's earliest settlers 400 years ago.
The researchers say Bieber is also connected to singer Celine Dion.
Ancestry.com says Bieber and Gosling are 11th cousins once removed, and Bieber and Lavigne are 12th cousins.
The genealogists say Bieber and Dion are 10th cousins three times removed, and they're linked through a French couple born in the early 1600s.
©2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
