Shawn Mendes
Canadian singer, songwriter, and model
Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (/ˈmɛndɛz/; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and model. He gained a following in 2013, posting song covers on the video-sharing application Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gertler and Island Records A&R Ziggy Chareton, which led to him signing a deal with the record label. He has since released three studio albums, headlined three world tours, and received several awards.
Quick facts: Born, Occupation …
Mendes released his self-titled debut EP (2014) and his debut studio album Handwritten (2015), whose single "Stitches" reached number one in the United Kingdom and the top 10 in the United States and Canada. He then released his second studio album Illuminate (2016), whose singles "Treat You Better" and "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" reached the top 10 in several countries. His self-titled third studio album (2018) was supported by the lead single "In My Blood". All three albums debuted atop the US Billboard 200, with the first one making Mendes one of five artists ever to debut at number one before the age of 18, and the third one making him the third-youngest artist to achieve three number one albums. In 2017, Mendes became the first artist to land three number-one singles on the Billboard Adult Contemporarychart. In 2018, he became the first artist to achieve four number-one singles on the Adult Pop Songs chart before the age of 20. In 2019, he released the hit singles "If I Can't Have You" and "Señorita" with the latter peaking at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Mendes has headlined four concert tours: #ShawnsFirstHeadlines, Shawn Mendes World Tour, Illuminate World Tour, and Shawn Mendes: The Tour. Among his accolades, Mendes has won 13 SOCANawards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards, eight Juno Awards, eight iHeartRadio MMVAs, two American Music Awards, and received two Grammy Award nominations. In 2018, Time named Mendes as one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list.
Early life
Mendes was born in the city of Pickering, Ontario, to Karen (née Rayment), a real estate agent, and Manuel Mendes, a businessman, who sells bar and restaurant supplies in Toronto. His father is Portuguese (from the Algarve),while his mother is from England. He has a younger sister named Aaliyah. He was raised in a religious family.
Mendes was raised in Pickering where he attended Pine Ridge Secondary School. At school, he played ice hockey and soccer, joined his high school glee club, and practised his stage presence in acting lessons (leading as Prince Charming at one point). He also auditioned for Disney Channel in Toronto. Mendes graduated from high school in June 2016.
Career
2013—2015: Handwritten
Mendes at the Jingle Ball Tour 2014
Mendes learned to play guitar by watching YouTubetutorial videos at the age of 14 in 2012. Less than a year later he started posting cover videos on YouTube. Mendes started attracting viewers after he posted a cover from Justin Bieber "As Long as You Love Me" on the social video app Vine in 2013 and got 10,000 likes and as many followers the next day. After that he gained millions of views and followers in a few months, becoming well known for his six-second snippets of renditions of many popular songs. By August 2014, he was the third most-followed musician on Vine. Artist manager Andrew Gertler discovered Mendes online in November 2013, bringing him to Island Records in January 2014. In April, he won Ryan Seacrest's "Best Cover Song" contest with "Say Something" by A Great Big World. He officially signed to Island in May 2014.
