Shawn Mendes
photo: cosmopolitan uk · cc by 3.0 ↗Shawn Mendes was a teenager in Pickering, Ontario when he began posting six-second cover clips to Vine in 2013, parlaying that following into a record deal and, within two years, a run of platinum guitar-driven pop singles. His early material paired busker-style acoustic strumming with earnest, radio-sized hooks; over subsequent albums he leaned into warmer, bluesier guitar textures and a more grown-up, confessional pop-rock. By the late 2010s he was one of the biggest young pop stars in the world, an arena headliner known for an unguarded, emotionally direct delivery.
Mendes has repeatedly named Ed Sheeran as a touchstone and has said his own music sits closer to Sheeran's than to other teen-pop peers of his; the shared DNA is the one-guy-and-a-guitar setup, the looped acoustic strum, and the plainspoken, confessional lyric that treats a pop hook like a busker's singalong.
listen forThrow on Sheeran's fingerpicked, hushed-to-huge 'The A Team' and then Mendes's debut 'Life of the Party' — both build from a lone strummed acoustic and a soft, close-mic'd vocal into an earnest, wide-open chorus meant to carry a room.
Mendes has cited John Mayer among his core influences and has said Mayer's work shaped his second album in particular; you hear it in the shift away from clean strum-pop toward warmer, blues-tinged electric guitar phrasing and a more adult, slow-burn kind of songwriting.
listen forPut Mayer's smoldering 'Slow Dancing in a Burning Room' next to Mendes's 'In My Blood' — both ride a patient build and let bent, bluesy guitar lines carry the ache between vocal lines rather than filling every bar.
Mendes has spoken about falling in love with what Bruno Mars does, and Mars's model of the all-around pop craftsman — big, clean vocal performances over meticulously built radio songs — informs Mendes's turn toward polished, emotionally direct balladry.
listen forSet Mars's spare piano confession 'When I Was Your Man' against Mendes's 'Mercy' — both center a raw, straining lead vocal over a simple keyboard bed before swelling into a full-throated, remorseful climax.