CONTENTS Superstar Next Door 4 Made in Canada 8 Something Big 16 There’s Nothing Holdin Him Back 24 Anything Is Possible 28 Timeline 29 Glossary 30 Find Out More 31 Index 32 Words that are defined in the glossary are in bold type the first time they appear in the text
Superstar Next Door Shawn Mendes is a super-sweet boy next door and an international pop superstar The Canadian charmer was discovered on social media and became an overnight sensation Soon his own brand of catchy acoustic folk-pop songs hit the airwaves Songs like Life of the Party and Stitches rocketed up the charts and showed the world that this talented teen is something big Shawn is a social media superstar Today he has more than 27 million followers on Instagram and 16 million followers on Twitter Shawn began posting videos online in 2013 He performed cover songs from popular singers but kept his videos short and sweet While most aspiring singers were using YouTube to get their music out to the public Shawn posted on Vine instead Vine was a video-sharing app that allowed users to post looping video clips that were just six seconds long That was enough time for fans around the world to fall in love with the young musician He Said It I was one of those kids who was just always on the Internet always on YouTube so it was easy for me to do it It’s not work It’s just fun Interview in Rolling Stone April 2016 4
Shawn was only 15 when he was discovered and signed to a record label Since then he has cowritten and recorded a number of hit singles including Treat You Better Mercy and There’s Nothing Holdin Me Back His two studio albums Handwritten and Illuminate have both gone platinum He’s opened for Taylor Swift and headlined three concert tours of his own including a sold-out worldwide arena tour Not one to sit back and relax Shawn has also tried his hand at acting and even has his own signature cologne all before the age of 20 5
