Canadian singer and songwriter Shawn Mendes turns 20 years old on Aug. 8, but he’s already become the first artist to have four of his songs hit Number 1 on the Adult Pop Songs chart, according to Billboard.
With three albums already under his belt, he’s become a successful musician—thanks to the internet, where he first gained his popularity and entered the music world.
In fact, Mendes learned how to play guitar by watching YouTube tutorials at the age of 13. Later, he uploaded to social media app Vine a 6-second clip of him singing a Justin Bieber song and got 10,000 likes overnight.
By the time he turned 15, he was already the third most followed musician on Vine and released his first album “Handwritten.” His single “Stitches” entered the top 10 in the U.S., UK, and Canada. Over 106,000 copies of this album were sold within a week, and it was labeled platinum.
Mendes released his second album “Illuminate” in 2016 and third called “Shawn Mendes” in 2018. He had several popular hits, ranging from pop to rock and blues, such as “Treat You Better,” “Mercy,” “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back,” and “In My Blood.”
While headlining three concert tours, he also won one American Music Award and three Juno Awards. Time magazine listed him in The 25 Most Influential Teens in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
On August 1, he tweeted that he got eight nominations for iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards (MMVAs), including Artist of the Year, Video of the Year, Best Pop Artist, Fan Fave Single, Best Collaboration, and others.
Shawn leads the #MMVAs with the most nominations this year with 8 ! He will also perform.
▪Artist of the Year
▪Video of the Year
▪ Best Pop Artist
▪Best Director
▪Best Collaboration
▪Fan Fave Artist
▪Fan Fave Video
▪Fan Fave SingleVOTE ➡: https://t.co/0V3dcDOkPc pic.twitter.com/JACkyTcnDu
— Shawn Mendes Updates (@ShawnM_Updates) August 1, 2018
Even though he dropped out of high school, Mendes later got his diploma by taking online courses. He also has taken part in inspiring others with the launch of his “Notes from Shawn” campaign, where he invited people to leave positive notes anonymously for those who might be having a tough day.
Mendes’s Portuguese father is a businessman selling bar and restaurant supplies in Toronto, and his mother is a a real estate agent originally from England. He was born in Toronto and raised in Pickering, Ontario.
Additional reporting by AP.
