ABC/Matt BrownShawn Mendes isn’t even old enough to drink legally, but he’s on top of the world when it comes to his career. His success is reflected by the fact that he’s #1 on Billboard‘s annual list of the 21 biggest stars under the age of 21. Shawn says when it comes to navigating his fame, he looks to his elders for advice…even though they’re not that much older than he is.
Speaking to Billboard, Shawn says, “I think the best advice I’ve gotten is…from Ed Sheeran who, early on, told me to just keep working and not to stop.”
He adds that Taylor Swift, whom he opened some shows for a few years ago, also had some good advice. Shawn says she told him “that when you get on stage, everyone there just wants to have a good time, and not to stress much about it, [which] really helped my confidence.”
The singer/songwriter admits that sometimes people underestimate him as an artist because of his extreme youth — he’s 19 — but he says that’s just because they simply don’t understand young people these days.
“Probably just the assumption that because we’re young we don’t have the life experience to understand certain things,” he tells Billboard, when asked to name the most misunderstood aspect of being a teenager.
He explains, “I think young people are able to be so in tune now with culture and the media with everything that’s at their fingertips that if it’s harnessed in the right way, a young person can if they work at it, learn faster and be as wise as anyone much older than them now.”
Here’s the full list of Billboard’s 21 Under 21:
1. Shawn Mendes
2. Lorde
3. Khalid
4. Lil Yachty
5. Camila Cabello
6. Kodak Black
7. Hailee Steinfeld
8. Grace VanderWaal
9. CNCO
10. Desiigner
11. Noah Cyrus
12. Daya
13. Alan Walker
14. Becky G
15. Jake Paul
16. Why Don’t We
17. Zara Larsson
18. TWICE
19. PRETTYMUCH
20. Chloe X Halle
21. Sabrina Carpenter
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