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Shawn Mendes
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Shawn Mendes Celebrates 10th Anniversary of ‘Illuminate’: ‘It Was a Really Special Time’
In a social media clip, the Canadian singer-songwriter reflects on his sophomore album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart nearly a decade ago. Now, eh's celebrating it with live renditions and demos.
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Shawn Mendes is reflecting on 2016.
That year — which became a viral social media trend earlier this year — was when the Canadian singer-songwriter released his sophomore album, Illuminate. As Mendes exported his talents outside of his home country, the album became his second No. 1 album in Canada, spending 131 weeks on the chart — one of which was at the very top.
Recently, Mendes revealed that Illuminate would be re-released for its 10th anniversary, with four bonus tracks, including a 2016 demo titled “Cold California,” and live versions of “Treat You Better,” “Ruin” and “Mercy” from performances in New York, Boston and Montreal, respectively.
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Following its release on Friday (Sept. 25), Mendes celebrated the album and spoke about its impact with Spotify, pointing to a handful of tracks he had fond memories of making.
“That album was back in the days when I didn’t think too much,” he shares in a new clip. “It was a really special time. It was when I discovered that making music could be a healing thing for me.”
“I remember making ‘Ruin’ and we just played that guitar loop in that song for, like, three hours on repeat. To this day, it’s [one of ] my favourite songs I’ve ever made off that album,” he explains, pointing to “Three Empty Words” and “Bad Reputation” as other favourites, recalling that he thought the latter was “the best song ever,” and had “so much fun” creating the track.
Expectedly, “Treat You Better” gets a shoutout. “[It’s] crazy to think about what’s happening with ‘Treat You Better’ now. I’m so glad everyone’s loving it again. I remember making that song and this feeling of instantly knowing it was something special. I think if I could meet myself again at that age, I’d have a lot to learn from him as a songwriter.”
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On the charts, it reached No. 7 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, remaining there for 41 weeks. It’s one of seven Mendes songs to surpass one billion streams on Spotify, including two other tracks from Illuminate: “There’s Nothin’ Holdin' Me Back” and “Mercy” — the former of which peaked at No. 6 on the Canadian Hot 100, while the latter reached No. 22.
His four other Billions Club entries are: “Señorita,” with Camila Cabello, “Stitches,” “If I Can’t Have You” and most recently, “In My Blood.”
To continue the festivities, two more demos from the Illuminate era will be released to streaming platforms tomorrow (Sept. 29), per Spotify's post.
On the release day of Illuminate (10th Anniversary Edition), Mendes took to social media to share some throwback photos from 2016.
“In 10 years your life can really change in ways you never imagined for yourself, but ultimately those parts of us that make art and play and laugh come from the same pure place no matter how much time has passed,” he wrote in his caption, sharing that writing Illuminate changed his life forever.
“I am so grateful for your love and friendship over the years. Here’s to 10 years of illuminate and here’s to 10 more,” attaching a red heart and an angel wing emoji.
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Illuminate followed 2015’s Handwritten, Mendes’ first album to reach No. 1 and spent one week at the top. Two years after Illuminate, Mendes released his self-titled album, Shawn Mendes, in 2018, which debuted at No. 1 and featured his major hit “Lost in Japan.” In 2020 came Wonder, which achieved the same chart-topping feat and remained at No. 1 for one week.
In 2022, Mendes took an indefinite hiatus from making music and touring, citing mental health struggles. He later returned in 2024 with Shawn, an indie-folk-inspired project that reached No. 24 on the Canadian Albums chart. It’s not a given that a major artist will look back on their past work fondly, but Mendes’ decision to treat Illuminate with much care is telling.
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