ABC RadioShawn Mendes will give fans an intimate look at his life via a YouTube Artist Spotlight Story, debuting Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Thursday night at an intimate screening of the documentary in New York City, Shawn told fans that his greatest goal is to “do nothing that is not purely and authentically me”…and the Spotlight Story achieves it that goal.
At the screening, Shawn spoke about how “special” the documentary was for him, and then thrilled the mostly female fans in attendance by actually sitting on the floor with them to watch it. Next came a Q&A session with the director, Casey Neistat, and Shawn also fielded questions from fans.
Since Shawn got his start posting covers on YouTube, he was asked how he feels now when fans post covers of his songs. Grinning, he said, “I actually comment on them, and I hope that it becomes the top comment — because that would have meant the world to me.” He added, “It’s amazing.”
Shawn also revealed that doing a tour of stadiums would be “a dream,” that he’d love to collaborate with Alicia Keys, and that he wants to make a new YouTube documentary every two years, to make sure “it consistently feels this good.”
Asked what message he’d like to give his fans, Shawn said this: “There is no perfect human, and you are loved because people love you for being you.”
It’s fitting that Shawn’s the subject of a YouTube Artist Spotlight Story, and not just because of his early days on the platform. He’s one of YouTube’s most popular musicians, with 15.7 million subscribers, and in the past 12 months alone, he’s garnered 2.2 billion YouTube views.
Shawn ended the Q&A session by pledging to taking selfies with every fan in attendance.
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