By now you must have heard of Shawn Mendes, a 17-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter. 
Shawn was born on August 8, 1998 to parents Karen, a real estate agent, and Manuel Mendes, a businessman in Toronto, Ontario. He has one younger sister named Aaliyah Mendes.
Mendes first attracted attention in 2013 when he started posting covers of popular hit songs on vine. His most known vine is of him doing a cover of Justin Bieber’s song, “As Long As You Love Me”. Since then Shawn has released his first single “Life of the Party” on June 27th, 2014 and his self-titled EP reached number one on the iTunes charts in under 40 minutes in July of 2014. Not only is Shawn a very talented singer, but he has also signed with Wilhelmina Models in early 2016.
Well, today he is TMI’s #ManCrushMonday! People refer to Shawn as the “next Justin Bieber”. In just a short amount of time, Shawn has reached an unbelievable amount of success. In 2015, Shawn opened up for Austin Mahone’s ‘Secret’ tour and has also gone on tour with huge stars such as Taylor Swift and Vance Joy. Shawn is also a member of the popular web sensation known as Magcon, along with Cameron Dallas, Nash Grier, Matthew Espinosa, Carter Reynolds, Aaron Carpenter, Taylor Caniff, Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson of Jack & Jack.
Shawn Mendes is embarking on one of his greatest accomplishments to date. Not only is he releasing a new album titled, “Illuminate”, but he is also doing his 2016 Shawn Mendes World Tour. In just a short amount of time, Shawn has been nominated for multiple awards, including the 2016 Teen Choice – Choice Male Artist, Choice Summer Music Star: Male, Choice Music: Break-Up Song for “I Know What You Did Last Summer”, and Choice Summer Tour for the Shawn Mendes World Tour. He has also won over eleven of those that he was nominated for.
He is still so young and at the young age of seventeen, has accomplished so much. Handwritten is the debut studio album by Shawn, and was released on April 14, 2015 by Island. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 119,000 album-equivalent units, of which 106,000 copies were pure album sales. The album includes “Stitches”, which reached top 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the UK Singles Chart, while its reissue features the U.S. top 20 single “I Know What You Did Last Summer” featuring Camila Cabello of Fifth Harmony.
I don’t know about you, but I for one cannot even wait to see what is next for Shawn Mendes. If you can, be sure and try to go see him on his Shawn Mendes World Tour. I have heard from multiple sources that he is one of the best to see perform live. So, congrats on everything, Shawn! You deserve it for all of that hard work. Can’t wait to see what Shawn is up to next!
