Island Records' 16-year old singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes’ hotly anticipated debut album HANDWRITTEN has been moved up to an April 17th release, in reaction to the phenomenal numbers and 1.2 million Twitter mentions posted by the Vevo premiere of his RIAA gold #1 debut “Life of The Party”. Shawn had announced that if his fans could make this his biggest video premiere and get over 1 million Twitter mentions, they would be awarded with the album early!
Shawn’s impact has transcended some of the most talked about moments of the year: He surpassed Superbowl XLIX as the top trending topic the night of the game; he was one of the top two trending topics the night of the historic SNL 40th anniversary special—trending above the 2015 NBA All-Star game which also aired that night. Adding to Shawn’s success is the fact that all this has taken place within nine months of his signing to Island Records.
In addition to “Never Be Alone”, “Something Big” and “Life of The Party”, the aptly-titled HANDWRITTEN album contains new songs crafted by Shawn in writing sessions on his tour bus over the course of the past year. The album includes production by Martin Terefe (credits: Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”, Train’s “Hey Soul Sister”), as well as songs with “Life of The Party” co-writers Ido Zmishlany and Scott Harris.
Shawn, hailed as “Music’s First Vine Star” by Billboard, and one of Time Magazine’s most influential teens of 2014, was also crowned “The real deal” by Teen Vogue. Shawn transitioned from teen viral online sensation to full-fledged industry best-seller when his videos were discovered online by manager Andrew Gertler & he was introduced and signed to Island Records. He has since performed live on the The Late Show With David Letterman, ABC’s Good Morning America, Live with Kelly & Michael, NBC's Today Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He also performed on and was interviewed by Ellen, and toured this past summer across the U.S. and Canada on Austin Mahone’s Secret Tour.