Shawn Mendes had three albums that debuted at the top of the US Billboard 200 chart. With his debut album, Illuminate, Mendes became just one of five musicians to reach the top spot before turning 18. Shawn had three number-one hits on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart two years later, making him the first artist under the age of 20 to achieve this feat.
Mendes has won numerous accolades for his record-breaking career, including 13 SOCAN awards, two American Music Awards, and 10 MTV Europe Music Awards. He has also been nominated for a Grammy three times.
Shawn Mendes amassed a massive following on Vine thanks to his music cover videos
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Mendes began his musical career after studying YouTube guitar tutorials to learn the instrument. He had the skills to succeed, but he had to grab attention. He once more used social media. Shawn decided to share his music covers on Vine after realizing that YouTube was overrun with song covers.
Shawn’s six-second videos quickly gained popularity. He received a lot of attention for his 2013 cover of Justin Bieber’s song As Long as You Love Me. Shawn’s video received 10,000 likes and assisted Shawn in overnight gaining the same number of followers. Mendes, then 15, said to Honest Blue that he didn’t know where his inspiration came from.
“I’m the only singer in the family, and my older cousin is quite self-conscious about it. Since I wasn’t raised in a musical family, the inspiration struck me out of the blue. I like seeing covers on YouTube, which inspired me to one day try my hand at it.
Artist manager Andrew Gertler noticed Mendes’ development and introduced the budding Canadian talent to Island Records in January 2014. Shawn triumphed in Ryan Seacrest’s Best Cover Song Contest three months later. Mendes got a formal contract with Island Records a month later.
Shawn Mendes made history
Mendes made history when he debuted in the top 25 of the US Billboard Hot 100 at a young age.
Shawn had an immediate impact at Island Records, becoming the youngest artist to achieve a top 25 debut single when his first single, Life of the Party, debuted at number 24 on the US Billboard 100.
Mendes’ quick ascent prompted similarities to Justin Bieber’s ascent to pop condom. According to Shawn, being compared to Justin is the biggest praise he has ever received (Rolling Stone). He stated:
“One thing about me that people might not realize is how much I admire Justin Bieber. I don’t believe I ever really informed him that he was the main source of my motivation for what I wanted to do. I knew every word of every one of his songs. He showed me the riff and the song. Therefore, I always respond, “That’s the biggest compliment you could offer me,” whenever someone asks me about Justin Bieber.
Bieber may have been in awe of Mendes, but it took some time for the Sorry singer to spot Shawn. In response to the query, “Who is Shawn Mendes?” in a September 2015 interview on New York’s 95.5 PLJ, Bieber provided the following response.
After receiving harsh criticism from Shawn’s followers for his response, Bieber later posted a screenshot of Shawn’s song Stitches on Instagram and thanked the musician. “Shawn I listened to the music and I’m very happy,” wrote Bieber. “So happy to see another Canadian boy killing it.”
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