Shawn Mendes – a musical success

Melissa Theodorus, Staff Writer|November 15, 2018

Shawn Mendes, the only 20-year-old singer and songwriter from Toronto, Canada, is a worldwide celebrity. He has started to act and model, too. Mendes already had three albums released. His newest is his self-titled album included “In My Blood,” which reached the Billboard charts, making him the first and only artist to have four #1 singles in the chart before turning 20-years old.

Mendes has been featured on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts more than once. In fact, he has been featured on the chart 11 times. He was also featured on multiple talk shows including Ellen, The Late Late Show, and The Tonight Show.

Before fame, 14-year-old Mendes posted videos on Vine, a popular short-form video-hosting service. Mendes learned to play the guitar through YouTube videos and gradually grew more and more famous for singing covers of songs. His most popular was an acoustic version of Justin Bieber’s “As Long as You Love Me,” with over 10,000 likes.

While Mendes had to leave junior year to begin his tour, he still kept up with homework through online classes. This young superstar was able to graduate with his class in 2016. He was picked up by his now-manager Andrew Gertler to become a rock star and join the Island Records label.

In 2014, when Mendes was 15-years-old, he released his first single, “Life of the Party,” and became the youngest to debut in the top 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100. His first album in 2015, Handwritten, sold about 106,000 copies in its first week. Mendes’s Illuminate World Tour sold out 38 shows in North America and Europe within minutes.

Many of Mendes’s songs were on charts all over the world. When his single “Stitches” was released in 2015, it reached #1 on European music charts and the Top Ten in North America. Even his song “Believe” was featured in a Disney Channel musical, Descendants. He’s collaborated with other great artists, like Camilla Cabello in “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and the Vamps in “Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart)”. He toured with Taylor Swift, one of the most popular and highest-paid celebrities. Now, Mendes has an estimated net worth of $12 million.