Shawn Mendes: Youngest Artist Since Justin Bieber To Land No. 1 Debut Album


Shawn Mendes is the youngest artist since Justin Bieber to land a No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 chart, with his debut album Handwritten.

It’s been five years since a 16 years and two months old Justin Bieber debuted on the very same chart with his full-length album My World 2.0. in 2010. At 16 years and 8 months old, Mendes is slightly older than Bieber was when he made history.

Billboard reports Mendes’ album, which was released on April 14 through Island Records, sold 119,000 units in the week ending April 19, according to Nielsen Music. It pushed the Furious 7 soundtrack to No. 2.

Mendes, who is also Canadian, has a similar story to Bieber in other ways. Back in 2013, Shawn was an ordinary high school teen in Pickering, Ontario. One day, he posted a six-second vine of himself playing the guitar and singing Bieber’s 2012 hit “As Long As You Love Me.”

Fast forward to not quite two years later, Mendes’ debut, full-length album, Handwritten, is blazing atop the Billboard 200 chart. It follows the success of Shawn’s self-titled EP, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 last year.

Impressively, Mendes hit No. 1 without the support of a radio airplay hit. In fact, not one of Shawn’s songs has reached Billboard’s airplay charts. Yet. But he has impacted Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart, as well as previously reaching a No. 15 position on the Social 50 chart, which ranks the most active artists across specific social media networking sites.

Shawn is touring at the moment and prepping to open for Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour. Yesterday, the 16-year-old took to Twitter and thanked his over three million fans for his No. 1 album success while linking to an Instagram pic of him playing the guitar.

“Thankyou all so so so so so so much for this #1 album. I owe it all to you. You guys are the best. Love you so much xx,” he wrote.

Naturally, Shawn’s fans are delighted over his No. 1 debut and tweeted congratulations to the star. Somewhat sweetly, Dan Kanter, who is Justin Bieber’s longtime musical director and guitarist, also sent a proud Canadian high five to Mendes.

[Images via Getty Images]

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