User:ActuallyShawnMendes99/Sample page

2013–2015: Handwritten
Main article: Handwritten (Shawn Mendes album)

Mendes learned to play guitar by watching YouTube tutorial videos at the age of 14 in 2012. Less than a year later he started posting cover videos on YouTube. Mendes randomly said, "It got like 10,000 likes, and I had like 10,000 followers the next day." when he did a cover of As Long As You Love Me, which is the video that made his Vine account blow up. "Thanks, Justin, all these years later." After that he gained millions of views and followers in a few months, becoming well known for his six-second snippets of renditions of many popular songs. Mendes saw Bieber as a career model at the time. By August 2014, he was the third most-followed musician on Vine. Artist manager Andrew Gertler discovered Mendes online in November 2013, bringing him to Island Records in January 2014. In April, he won Ryan Seacrest's "Best Cover Song" contest with "Say Something" by A Great Big World. He officially signed to Island in May 2014.

He released his first single "Life of the Party" on June 26, 2014. He became the youngest to debut in the top 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it to number 24 for the week ending July 12, 2014. Prior to his signing, Mendes toured as a member of the Magcon Tour alongside other young Viners with a large following on social media. Mendes was also on a nationwide tour with Austin Mahone as an opening act. He released his debut major label EP in July. The EP debuted and peaked at number five on Billboard 200, selling 48,000 copies in its first week. He won a Teen Choice award in 2014 for Webstar in Music. On September 5, 2014, "Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart)" featuring Mendes was released as the fifth single from The Vamps' debut album, Meet the Vamps. On November 6, 2014, "Something Big" was released as the second single.

Personal life
Mendes has been open about his struggles with anxiety, which he disclosed publicly through "In My Blood", a track from his third studio album. Shawn has always been open about anxiety, but it was the first time that he really wanted to write about the severity of it, and it was terrifying. He thought a lot of people were going to be like, "He's over the top and dramatic, and ungrateful," but actually ended up getting an overwhelming amount of love, with people saying "I needed this song." Hopefully it is always necessary because anxiety is always relevant. He declared that he had been undergoing therapy in order to help him deal with the mental health condition, stating:"I spoke to a therapist a couple of times [...] Therapy is what works for you. Therapy is listening to music and running on the treadmill, therapy is going to dinner with your friends—it's something that distracts you, that helps you heal and so it just depends on what you think therapy is. I made a conscious effort to be more connected to the people in my life. I found I was closing myself off from everybody, thinking that would help me battle it then realizing the only way I was going to battle it was completely opening up and letting people in."Regarding speculations about his sexuality, Mendes stated, "First of all, I'm not gay. Second of all, it shouldn't make a difference if I was or if I wasn't. The focus should be on the music and not my sexuality."

Since July 2019, he has been dating Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello. However, their relationship has sparked controversy, as both were accused of attempting to form a relationship for publicity, but Mendes insisted it is "definitely not a publicity stunt".