Shawn Mendes
Shawn Mendes
One of the bright new stars appearing on the horizon and heating up the Billboard 100 charts is Shawn Mendes. Mendes is a singer/song writer who attracted a big following after posting song covers on the popular video sharing app Vine.
Rise to Fame
Shawn Peter Raul Mendes was born on August 8, 1998 in Toronto, Canada. His mother is a real estate agent and his father is a business man who sells bar and restaurant supplies in a suburb of Toronto called Pickering. Shawn is of English and Portuguese decent.
In 2013, Mendes began posting videos of his song covers on a popular video sharing app called Vine. It didn't take lone for Mendes to gather steam on Vine and soon he had millions of followers watching his many renditions of current popular songs. In less than a year Mendes was the third most followed artist on Vine. It didn't take long for record execs to take notice of Shawn's talent and large following before Andrew Gertler discovered Mendes and brought him to Island Records. Shawn released his first song "Life of the Party" in June 2014. Mendes is the youngest artist to debut in the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. His song "Life of the Party" made it all the way to number 24 on the charts, when he was only 15 years, 11 months, and 4 days old.
Not only did Mendes hit it big on Vine, which brought him a record deal but he also was very lucky to be included on some very popular concert tours. Shawn went on a nationwide tour with Austin Mahone acting as Mahone's opening act and soon earned a spot as one of Taylor Swift's opening acts on her 1989 tour.
Full Length Album
On April 14, 2015 Mendes released his first full length album called "Handwritten." The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart selling over 106,000 copies in it first week. It wasn't until Shawn released his third single from his debut album "Handwritten" that he peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.A. Shawn's single "Stitches" made it all the way to number 4 on the charts making "stitches" his first song to peak in the United States in the top ten. "Stitches" would go on hit number 1 on the Mainstream Top 40. Mendes followed the hit "Stitches" with a collaboration with his then girlfriend Camila Cabella from singing group "Fifth Harmony", called "I Know What You Did Last Summer." The song was included on Mendes "Handwritten Revisited" reissued album that was re-released after Mendes hit it big in the United States.
Unknown Facts
1. Mendes was listed on Time magazine's list of The 25 Most Influential Teens in both 2014 and 2015.
2. Shawn cites his musical influences as Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and John Mayer.
3. Mendes won Favorite Break Through Artist on 2016's People's Choice Awards.
4. On the 2015 Teen Choice Awards Mendes won Choice Web Star: Music.
5. Shawn has dated Camila Cabello from the musical group "Fifth Harmony."
6. Mendes can play the piano and the guitar.
7. Shawn is 6'1
8. Shawn is the youngest artist since Justin Beiber to have a number one album.
9. The Shawn Mendes EP reached number 1 on I Tunes in only 37 minutes.
10. Shawn taught himself how to play the guitar at 13 years of age by watching You Tube videos.
11. Shawn has a younger sister.
12. He can speak 3 different languages. English, Spanish, and French.
13. His favorite color is green.
14. His first album he ever bought was either a Hannah Montana album or a Shania Twain album. He can't remember.
15. Shawn would love to collaborate with Eminem, Ed Sheeran, or Justinb Bieber.
16. His favorite foods are omelets, almonds, and chocolate chip cookies.
17. His least favorite food are tomatoes.
18. Shawn has over 3 million followers on Twitter and over 3 million on Instagram.
19. He won Ryan Seacrest's "Best Cover Song" contest with his version of "Say Something" by A Great Big World.
20. His celebrity crust is on Rachel McAdams.
