Shawn Mendes

Mendes' 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 self-titled third studio album (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.^[2]


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.

Brand endorsement and modelling

Mendes signed with Wilhelmina Models in 2016.^{[119][120][121][122]}


In June 2017, Mendes walked the runway during the "Emporio Armani Spring 2018" show held in Milan, Italy.^[123] Mendes was wearing the Italian brand's new smartwatch, EA Connected, during the show. Ahead of his runway walk, the promotional video featuring Mendes was shown.^[124] In August 2017, Mendes launched his first fragrance, Shawn Mendes Signature, a fragrance for women and men.^[125] He launched his second fragrance, Shawn Signature II, also made for both men and women in August 2018.^[126]


On June 6, 2018, Mendes was announced as the ambassador for Emporio Armani's entire "Fall Winter 2018-2019" watch collection. In July 2018, photographs of Mendes wearing the new EA Connected smartwatches were published on social media.^[127]


On February 16, 2019, Mendes announced that he was the latest brand ambassador for Calvin Klein's #MyCalvins campaign.^[128] During the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, SmileDirectClub released an advertisement showcasing a campaign between the company and Mendes with some of the proceeds going to "organizations that seek to improve children's health as well as mental and emotional well-being."^[129] Later that month, Emporio Armani released a new black-and-white advertisement for its touchscreen smartwatches featuring an instrumental version of "In My Blood" with Mendes boxing.^[130]


In August 2019, Mendes announced a partnership with Canadian-based food chain, Tim Hortons, in which he features in a commercial and on beverage cups,^[131] followed by a partnership with Roots Canada in September.^[132] In February 2023, Mendes has been unveiled as the latest brand ambassador for America's luxury jewelry brand David Yurman, appearing alongside actress Scarlett Johansson in the brand’s 2023 campaign dubbed "Nature’s Artistry", inspired by nature and art.^[133]

Philanthropy and supported causes

In 2014, Mendes and DoSomething.org launched their campaign called "Notes from Shawn" where fans were encouraged to write positive notes and leave them in unexpected places. The campaign was inspired by the lyrics to his first single, "Life of the Party", and addressed low self-esteem, depression and awareness of self-harm.^[134] They relaunched their campaign for the second year in a row in 2015, where the campaign was hashtagged online as NotesFromShawn. He partnered with BlendApp with the goal of raising up to $25,000, where $1 was raised for every signup and positive message shared on the application.^[135] The campaign was relaunched for a third year in a row in 2016.^[136]


He has also worked with Pencils of Promise, a non-profit organization that builds schools and helps raise the quality of education for developing countries, raising $25,000 to build a school in Ghana.^[137]


In September 2017, after witnessing the devastation of the earthquake in Mexico City, Mendes created the Mexico Earthquake Relief Fund in conjunction with the American Red Cross and donated $100,000 towards relief efforts.^[138]


In 2018, Mendes worked with Omaze to raise funds through donations to support the WE Schools program, a movement aiming to support youth through educational services and mentorship. Mendes encouraged his fans to help the cause while giving the donors a chance to attend his upcoming concert tour.^[139]


In September 2018, Mendes took part in the annual Global Citizen festival held at Central Park, New York City.^[140] He performed, alongside other artists such as Janelle Monáe, John Legend, and Janet Jackson, and raised awareness regarding the importance of education and children's lack of access to education around the world, particularly young women. Ahead of the event, he took to social media to reach out to Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, thanking the Prime Minister for leading the initiative for Leave No Girl Behind, a movement whose goal is to empower girls through workshops and programs,^[141] and expressing his willingness to talk more about the project. He also encouraged his fans to support the movement. In response, the Prime Minister thanked Mendes and stated that "The more people we have fighting for girls' education, the better! Let's talk."^[142]


In October 2018, Mendes, together with producer Teddy Geiger, released a cover of "Under Pressure" by the British rock band Queen and David Bowie.^[143] The single was part of a series of covers of Queen's songs, released in celebration of Queen's biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.^[144] The proceeds from the single were donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, an organization founded by Queen bandmembers after Freddie Mercury's death, which helps fight against HIV/AIDS.^[145] Queen's manager, Jim Beach, expressed his gratitude to Mendes and Universal Music Group for helping the cause.^[146]


On October 20, 2018, Mendes performed along with other artists such as Khalid, NF, Marshmello, Meghan Trainor, and Ella Mai at The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles for the "We Can Survive" event. The event was organized to raise funds for Young Survival Coalition, in an effort to support young women who were diagnosed with breast cancer.^[147]


In August 2019, Mendes announced the launch of the Shawn Mendes Foundation, with the aim to "inspire and empower his fans and today's youth to bring about positive change in the world and advocate for issues they care most about."^[148][149] On 8 January 2020, Mendes announced that both he and his Shawn Mendes Foundation will be donating an undisclosed sum of money to causes including Australia's Red Cross, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, and South Australia Country Fire Service, to help ease the strain on those impacted by the devastating fires that are tearing through parts of the country.^[150] In March 2020 Mendes and The Shawn Mendes Foundation donated $175,000 to support COVID-19 relief to Toronto's SickKids Foundation, the largest charitable funder of child health research, learning and care in Canada.^[151] Mendes and the Shawn Mendes Foundation announced Wonder Grants in December 2020 and have partnered with Google to award the first set of Wonder Grants to young changemakers around the world. Wonder Grants aim to support and empower young creatives launching their projects across various fields, including music, film, education, science, environment and technology.^[152] In January 2021 American chain of fast casual restaurants Chipotle announced it's partnering with Mendes and his foundation to launch "Wonder Grants" supporting young innovators in sustainability, as well as a "Shawn Mendes Bowl" on the Chipotle app and Chipotle website for a limited time in the US and Canada. For every Shawn Mendes Bowl sold, Chipotle will donate $1 toward the foundation in support of changemakers and this marks the first time Chipotle has launched a philanthropic entrée on its menu.^[153] In June 2023, Mendes announced he collaborated with America luxury jewelry brand David Yurman and helped to design a woven hemp bracelet to benefit his foundation after previously announced as brand ambassador for the brand earlier this year. As part of the collaboration, 20% of the purchase price from the David Yurman bracelet will go to the foundation.^[154] Mendes has partnered with American subscription streaming service Disney+ as a tour sponsor for his Wonder tour by visiting children’s hospitals in the US. Mendes was also planning to donate one dollar per ticket sold in North America towards his foundation “Wonder Grants” program, which he’ll award to one "youth changemaker" in every city the tour visits.^[155]


In March 2020, Mendes participated in iHeart Media's Living Room Concert for America, a benefit to raise awareness and funds for the COVID-19 pandemic.^[156] In March and April 2020, Mendes participated in Global Citizen Festival's Together at Home virtual concert to raise awareness and funds for the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[157][158][159]} Mendes has shown support for the Black Lives Matter movement. In May 2020 he alongside Camila Cabello joined protests in Miami for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd, and has had lent his Instagram to raise the voice of Black activists.^[160]


On April 22, 2021, Mendes hosted a NASA video conference with the crew of Expedition 65 on board the International Space Station. The televised event covered a Q&A with students and children about various topics related to Earth Day, such as climate change, Earth observations and general physics, as well as the astronauts' experience on the space station.^{[161][162][163]} In June 2021, Mendes, along with several other celebrities, signed an open letter to the United States Congress, urging lawmakers to pass the Equality Act. The artists, including Mendes, said of the Act that it would "protect ... the most marginalized communities".^[164]


In May 2021, Mendes joined Cabello and Bollywood actors to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic in India, during its peak of cases. Mendes donated $50,000 through the organization Give India.^[165]