SOPHOMORE ALBUM ILLUMINATE DEBUTS AT #1 IN CANADA AND THE U.S., AND TOPS CHARTS GLOBALLY
Multi-platinum singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes tops both the Canadian Soundscan chart and Billboard Top 200 Albums chart with his sophomore album Illuminate debuting at #1 with over 20,000 copies (Canada) and 144,000 copies (U.S.) sold and consumed. This is Shawn’s second #1 debut, following his #1 platinum albumHandwritten. Illuminate also tops the charts globally and has hit #1 on iTunes in over 65 countries, including Canada, the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, across South East Asia and many more. Illuminate was released on September 23, 2016 via Island Records / Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company.
On Saturday, October 1, Shawn took over his home city of Toronto to celebrate the release of the album with his Canadian fans, with #IlluminateToronto, an intimate, “win to get in” concert at The Great Hall. #IlluminateToronto was the #1 trend on Twitter in Canada on Saturday. The day before Illuminate was released to the public, Toronto fans were able to partake in the“Illuminate Toronto” pop-up shop. The first 30 fans who arrived at the pop-up shop and bought a pre-order of the album on-site received tickets to #IlluminateToronto at The Great Hall, plus a meet-and-greet with Shawn. The next 50 fans in line received tickets to the special event only. The remainder of the tickets to #IlluminateToronto were distributed to lucky fans via various contesting opportunities across the city.
Illuminate, featuring hit singles “Treat You Better” and “Mercy”, has received rave reviews from The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, among others. Rolling Stone declares the album “brings personal to modern popcraft” and Billboard proclaims “it is becoming clear that Mendes found his true calling at a young age, with Illuminate marking the beginning of the next exciting chapter for the artist.”
Along with celebrating the release of Illuminate with the special #IlluminateToronto performance at The Great Hall, Shawn celebrated in the U.S. with performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The TODAY Show (“Treat You Better” and “Mercy”), The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Late Show with James Corden and The Talk. Shawn recently completed his sold-out Shawn Mendes World Tour, and he will embark on his first-ever headlining arena tour in support of Illuminate in 2017. The North American leg of the arena tour will begin July 6 and will make stops in Vancouver and Montreal in Canada, and in major cities across the U.S. including a night at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Tickets and the full list of the announced dates on Shawn’s Illuminate World Tour can be accessed viashawnmendesofficial.com/tour.