Shawn Mendes is a British singer and songwriter that has taken the world by storm in the last few years with many hits under his belt!
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about his life and career!
- His full name is Shawn Peter Raul Mendes
- He was born on August 8, 1998
- He 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
- Shawn Mendes released his self-titled debut EP (2014)
- And his debut studio album Handwritten (2015)
- His 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 Contemporary chart
- In 2018, he became the first artist to achieve four number one singles on the Adult Pop Songs chart before the age of 20
- Shawn 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 SOCAN awards, 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
- Shawn Mendes was born in Toronto, Ontario
- He is the son of Karen (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 English
- He has a younger sister named Aaliyah
- He was raised in a religious family
- Shawn Mendes was raised in Pickering, Ontario
- There he attended Pine Ridge Secondary School
- At school, he played ice hockey and soccer
- He joined his high school glee club
- And practised his stage presence in acting lessons
- He played Prince Charming at one point
- He also auditioned for Disney Channel in Toronto
- Shawn Mendes graduated from high school in June 2016
- Shawn Mendes has mainly been described as a pop and folk pop singer
- Mendes has cited John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, and Justin Timberlake as his main musical influences
- Growing up, Mendes listened to reggae music, Led Zeppelin, Garth Brooks and country music thanks to his parents
- He expressed that his second studio album was influenced by Mayer’s work
- While his third album was inspired by Timberlake, Kings of Leon, Kanye West and Daniel Caesar
- For Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone, Mendes incorporates “catchy acoustic folk-pop tunes” in his catalogue
- While for Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times, “his soft, sometimes soulful pop-rock plays primarily to tweens and teenagers, but has also found traction on adult contemporary radio stations”
- In 2014, Mendes and DoSomething.org launched their campaign called “Notes from Shawn”
- There fans were encouraged to write positive notes and leave them in unexpected places
- The campaign was inspired by the lyrics to his first single, “Life of the Party”
- And addressed low self-esteem, depression and awareness of self-harm
- They relaunched their campaign for the second year in a row in 2015
- Then the campaign was hashtagged online as NotesFromShawn
- He partnered with BlendApp with the goal of raising up to $25,000
- Where $1 was raised for every signup and positive message shared on the application
- The campaign was relaunched for a third year in a row in 2016
- He has also worked with Pencils of Promise
- A non-profit organization that builds schools and helps raise the quality of education for developing countries
- Raising $25,000 to build a school in Ghana
- In September 2017, after witnessing the devastation of the earthquake in Mexico City, Mendes created the Mexico Earthquake Relief Fund in conjunction with the American Red Cross
- He donated $100,000 towards relief efforts
- In 2018, Mendes worked with Omaze to raise funds through donations to support the WE Schools program
- A movement aiming to support youth through educational services and mentorship
- Shawn Mendes encouraged his fans to help the cause while giving the donors a chance to attend his upcoming concert tour
- In September 2018, Mendes took part in the annual Global Citizen festival held at Central Park, New York City
- He performed, alongside other artists such as Janelle Monáe, John Legend, and Janet Jackson
- And raised awareness regarding the importance of education and children’s lack of access to education around the world, particularly young women
- Ahead of the event, he took to social media to reach out to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
- Thanking the Prime Minister for leading the initiative for Leave No Girl Behind
- A movement whose goal is to empower girls through workshops and programs
- And expressing his willingness to talk more about the project
- He also encouraged his fans to support the movement
- In response, the Prime Minister thanked Mendes and stated that, “The more people we have fighting for girls’ education, the better! Let’s talk”
- In October 2018, Mendes, together with producer Teddy Geiger, released a cover of “Under Pressure” by the British rock band Queen and David Bowie
- The single was part of a series of covers of Queen’s songs
- Released in celebration of Queen’s biopic Bohemian Rhapsody
- The proceeds from the single were donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust
- An organization founded by Queen bandmembers after Freddie Mercury’s death
- Which helps fight against HIV/AIDS
- Queen’s manager, Jim Beach, expressed his gratitude to Mendes and Universal Music Group for helping the cause
- On October 20, Mendes performed along with other artists such as Khalid, NF, Marshmello, Meghan Trainor, and Ella Mai at The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles for the “We Can Survive” event
- The event was organized to raise funds for Young Survival Coalition
- In an effort to support young women who were diagnosed with breast cancer
- Shawn Mendes has been open about his struggles with anxiety disorder
- Which he disclosed publicly through “In My Blood”
- A track from his third studio album
- He declared that he had been undergoing therapy in order to help him deal with the mental health condition
- With regard to speculation about his sexuality, Mendes stated, “First of all, I’m not gay
- Second of all, it shouldn’t make a difference if I was or if I wasn’t
- The focus should be on the music and not my sexuality”
- He is rumored to be in a relationship with singer Camila Cabello
Got anything to add?