Sixteen-year-old Shawn Mendes has catapulted himself into the music industry as a force to be reckoned with after debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart with his freshman album Handwritten.
While Justin Bieber is off getting arrested and attracting negative attention in the press, Shawn Mendes is plugging away to attract young female fans from around the world.
Thanks to a strong following on Vine, the Toronto native was able to attract the attention of Island Records, who signed him to a record contract in 2014. Before the ink was even dry, Mendes was releasing his debut single “Life of the Party” on airwaves across the nation, becoming the youngest artist to debut in the top 25 with a debut song on the Billboard Hot 100.
We caught up with Shawn at Top-40 radio station 104.1 KRBE in Houston, TX the night after his first concert.
Mendes is the youngest artist to have a #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart since Justin Bieber released My World 2.0 in 2010. Handwritten sold 106,000 copies in its first week with no support from a radio hit. None of the songs off the album have reached Billboard’s airplay charts, yet three of them have garnered strong success on the Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart.
That will surely change though, and soon. Thanks to a #1 album, Mendes can pretty much guarantee his radio airplay will rise in the coming weeks, a success this kid deserves.
This week’s Billboard 200 Top 10
- Shawn Mendes – Handwritten – 119,000 total units (106,000 from pure sales)*
- Furious 7 Soundtrack – 79,000 total units
- Reba – Love Somebody – 62,000 total units
- Tyler, The Creator – 58,000 total units (51,000 from pure sales)
- Halestorm – Into the Wild Life – 56,000 total units (52,000 from pure sales)*
- 50 Shades of Grey Soundtrack – 43,000 total units
- Taylor Swift – 1989 – 38,000 total units
- Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour – 37,000 total units
- Ed Sheeran – x – 36,000 total units
- Drake – If You’re Reading This it’s Too Late – 35,000 total units
*Note: Billboard’s formula for album sales indicates 10 single sales equals one album (Track Equivalent Album) and 1500 single streams equals one album sale (Streaming Equivalent Album).
