Mendes went on to release his debut single "Life of the Party", which become successful in his native Canada as well as internationally. Following the release of his first single, he has released both an EP and a studio album, and has headlined a solo tour.
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[hide]Early Life
Mendes was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was raised in Pickering, a suburb of the city. He is the son of Karen, a real estate agent, and Manuel Mendes, a businessman, selling bar and restaurant supplies in Toronto. His father is of Portuguese descent (from a Lagonese family), while his mother is English. He has a younger sister, Aaliyah. He attended Pine Ridge Secondary School in Pickering, Ontario.[1]Career
He first started posting cover videos on the popular social video app Vine in 2013 and picked up millions of views and followers in a matter of months, becoming well known for his six-second snippets of renditions of many popular songs.[2] Artist manager Andrew Gertler discovered Mendes online in January 2014, bringing him to Island Records where he eventually signed and released his first single "Life of the Party" in June 2014.[3] He is the youngest artist to debut in the top 25 with a debut song on the Billboard Hot 100, making to number 24 for the week ending July 12, 2014, at 15 years, 11 months and 4 days of age.[4]Prior to his signing, Mendes toured as a member of the MagCon Tour[5] alongside other young artists and social media sensations such as Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas, Jack & Jack, and more.[6] Mendes was also on a nationwide tour with Austin Mahone as an opening act and released his debut major label EP in July, with a debut album due out later in 2014.[7] He won the Teen Choice award in 2014 for Webstar in Music.[8] The EP debuted and peaked at number five on Billboard Hot 200, selling 48.000 copies in it's first week.[9] On April 14, 2015, Mendes released his full-lenght album Handwritten, which debuted at number one on Billboard Hot 200.[10] His third single from the album, "Stitches", peaked at number eleven on Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first top 20 single on the Hot 100.[11] Mendes recorded a song called "Believe" for Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants.[12] He also chosen as one of opening acts for Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour.[13]