Shawn Mendes Biography

Shawn Mendes is one of the famous Canadian singers and composers whose first three albums debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. Shawn Mendes earned significant followers after uploading a series of his cover versions to many video-sharing sites. Shawn Mendes' young good-looks, talent, and built-in fan base had given him an excellent record. Illuminate's debut album has helped him be one of five artists to debut at number one before 18. After two years, he gained popularity as he has three number-one singles on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, considering Shawn Mendes age to be younger than 20 years at that time.

The "Life of the Party," charted at No. 24, was his debut single in 2014, which was on the Billboard 100. It has made the then 15-year-old Mendes the youngest artist to have his debut song in the Top 25.

Although he has been recognized as "the next Justin Bieber," his acoustic-driven and beautiful songs are more in sync with his idol Ed Sheeran's musical style. He also quickly started to compose his songs. 

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Image: Singer Shawn Mendes

Birth and Childhood 

Shawn Peter Raul Mendes is Shawn Mendes full name. Born and brought up in Pickering, Ontario, Shawn Mendes' birthday was on August 8, 1998. His parent's names are Karen and Manuel Mendes. His dad, Karen Mendes is from Portugal and is a real estate agent. His mother is Manuel Mendes, originally from England, a businessman who sells bar and restaurant supplies in Toronto. He has a younger sibling named Aaliyah. Shawn Mendes' family is considered to be a religious family. Interestingly, Shawn Mendes’ date of birth is similar to that of Dustin Hoffman and Roger Federer.

Mendes did his schooling at Pine Ridge Secondary School in June 2016, where he played soccer and ice hockey. Later he joined his high school glee club and rehearsed his stage presence in acting lessons. He had also given an audition for Disney Channel in Toronto. Shawn Mendes was quite serious as although he left his school in his junior year to go on tour, he completed his graduation in June 2016 as he kept up with his homework via online courses. Well, you must be wondering how old Shawn Mendes is right now? He is 23 years old.

Career

It must be stated that Shawn Mendes’ biography is as intriguing as his voice. He started his journey by learning to play the guitar from watching YouTube videos. He used his social media to grab people's attention towards his talent. Shawn believed that YouTube was at the saturation level with song covers. He decided to use vine for his covers. 

 In 2013, Justin Bieber's As Long as You Love Me helped him to earn 10,000 likes and gain his followers overnight. Shawn Mendes’ age was merely 15 when he said to Honest Blue that he couldn't identify the source of his inspiration towards music. He claimed that he and his older cousin were the only two in our family who are inclined towards music. He was not born in a musical family, so the inspiration came out of nowhere. However, he always used to enjoy watching covers on YouTube. So he always dreamt of doing something like this. 

The artist manager Andrew Gertler gave the rising Canadian star a chance by bringing him to Island Records in January 2014. Shawn had won Ryan Seacrest's Best Cover Song Contest after three months. Finally, Mendes officially signed to Island Records after a month.

Shawn Mendes' first song was Life of the Party that was released at Island Records in 2014. His first song debuted at number 24 on the US Billboard 100, which proudly made him the youngest person in the industry to have a top 25 debut single. 

 The handwritten, full-length album was released on 14 April 2015, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, which sold 106,000 copies in its first week and was certified platinum. The third single from the album, "Stitches," raised at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also became his first top 10 single in the US and became his first number one on the Contemporary charts and Adult Pop Songs. In late 2015, As a member of the group Fifth Harmony, Mendes, and Camila Cabello, released their first collaborative single, "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

Inspiration 

Mendes's drastic rise brought the comparison between Justin Bieber and him. Shawn proudly claimed to Rolling Stone that it was the biggest compliment to be compared with Justin Bieber.

Shawn really looks up to Bieber. He said that he had learned every song by heart. He had learned how to sing and riff. He still considers Bieber as the main source of inspiration for what he wanted to do.

However, this is not the case with Bieber. In an incident from New York's 95.5 PLJ September 2015 interview where Bieber replies,, "Who is Shawn Mendes?" when asked about Shawn Mendes. This reply drew the ire of Shawn's fans.

After a few days, Bieber posted a screenshot of Shawn's song Stitches and gave him a shout-out.

Mendes made an announcement that the second single from Wonder was a collaboration with Justin Bieber on a track entitled "Monster" on November 26, 2020. The song rose to number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100. For the first time, Mendes performed "Monster" live with Bieber at the 2020 American Music Awards.

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Image: Justin Bieber (L); Shawn Mendes ®

Social Work 

DoSomething.org, in collaboration with Mendes, launched their campaign known as "Notes from Shawn" in 2014, where fans were motivated to write positive notes and leave them in unexpected places. The movement derived inspiration from the lyrics to his first single, "Life of the Party," and also addressed low self-esteem, depression. The campaign was relaunched in 2015 and 2016 for raising funds for each signup.

He was also associated with Pencils of Promise, a non-profit organization that helps to enhance the quality of education for developing countries. Mendes also built the Mexico Earthquake Relief Fund in September 2017 in conjunction with the American Red Cross after witnessing the devastating effect of the earthquake in Mexico City and successfully donated $100,000 towards relief efforts.

Mendes worked in association with Omaze to raise funds through donations to support the WE Schools program. Mendes encouraged his fan following to help in the cause by inviting them for his upcoming concert tour.

In September 2018, Mendes participated in the annual Global Citizen Festival, which took place at Central Park, New York City. He performed with other artists such as Janelle Monáe, Janet Jackson, and John Legend to raise awareness about the importance of education and children's lack of access to education around the globe, particularly young women. After that, he used his social media to thank Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for initiating Leave No Girl Behind. He also motivated his fans to support the movement. In response, the Prime Minister showed his gratitude towards Mendes and stated that "The more people, the better for fighting for girls' education. Let's talk.

On October 20, 2018, Mendes also contributed to the "We can survive" event, which supports women who were diagnosed with breast cancer by performing along with other artists such as Khalid, Ella Mai NF, Marshmello, Meghan Trainor at The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles.

Finally, in August 2019, Mendes announced the launch of the Shawn Mendes Foundation, with the goal to "inspire and motivate his fans and youth to bring about a positive impact in the world. Mendes and his Shawn Mendes Foundation will be donating an undisclosed amount to causes, including the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Australia's Red Cross, to help ease the strain on those impacted by the devastating fires on January 8, 2020. Mendes and his foundation also helped people who suffered in COVID-19 by donating $175,000 to Toronto's SickKids Foundation.

This personality has made it to the top of the ladder at such a young age with his talent. Shawn Mendes’ birthday is celebrated by his fans worldwide by showing tribute to his music. This is what success gives you when you earn it. He has helped people in any way possible. He gained his popularity not just as an extraordinary singer but also as a human who tries to bring up a positive influence in society. Even getting this kind of fame at this age, he remained so grounded. The World needs more Shawn Mendes as it will make it a better place to live.