Shawn Peter Raul Mendes ( MEN-dez, European Portuguese: [ˈmẽdɨʃ]; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician. He gained a following in 2013 when he posted song covers on the video-sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gertler and Island Records A&R Ziggy Chareton, which led to his signing a deal with the record label. Mendes's self-titled debut EP was released in 2014, followed by his debut studio album Handwritten in 2015. Handwritten debuted atop the US Billboard 200, making Mendes one of five artists ever to debut at number one before the age of 18. The single "Stitches" reached number one in the UK and the top 10 in the US and Canada.
Mendes's second album Illuminate (2016) also debuted at number one in the US, with its singles "Treat You Better" and "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" reaching the top 10 in several countries. His third album Shawn Mendes (2018) was supported by the lead single "In My Blood". The album's number-one debut in the US made Mendes the third-youngest artist to achieve three number-one albums. In 2019, he released the hit singles "If I Can't Have You" and "Señorita", with the latter peaking atop the US Billboard Hot 100. His fourth studio album, Wonder (2020), made him the youngest male artist ever to top the Billboard 200 with four studio albums. Following a musical sabbatical, Mendes's fifth studio album Shawn was released in November 2024 to positive reviews from critics. It explored the folk genre and was less commercially successful than its predecessors.
Among his accolades, Mendes has won 13 SOCAN awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards, eight Juno Awards, eight iHeartRadio MMVAs, two American Music Awards, and received three nominations for a Grammy Award and one nomination for a Brit Award. In 2018, Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list.
