Shawn Mendes Reflects On Pulling The Plug On Tour To Focus On Mental Health: “The Process Was Very Difficult”

Shawn Mendes made a decision last year to cancel his “Wonder” tour to focus on his mental health. The “Señorita” singer is now reflecting on what was going through his mind at the time.

“The process was very difficult. A lot of doing therapy, a lot of trying to understand how I was feeling and what was making me feel that way,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “And then doing the work to help myself and heal. And also leaning on people in my life to help a little bit.”

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Mendes continued, “It’s been a lot of work, but I think the last year and a half has been the most eye-opening and growing and beautiful and just healing process of my life. I’m also really grateful for all the people that were so accepting and loving and kind and understanding. And it just really made me see how culture is really starting to get to a place where mental health is really becoming a priority.”

The singer and songwriter says he is currently watching the show Normal People, based on the Sally Rooney novel. He also mentioned that he started reading “On The Road” but only “got halfway through it.”

It was in July 2022 that Mendes released a statement saying he was going to cancel his tour to focus on himself.

“I had to postpone the past few weeks of shows since I wasn’t totally prepared for the toll that being back on the road would take on me,” read the statement. “I started this tour excited to finally get back to playing live after a long break due to the pandemic, but the reality is I was not at all ready for how difficult touring would be after this time away. After speaking more with my team and working with an incredible group of health professionals, it has become more clear that I need to take the time I’ve never taken personally, to ground myself and come back stronger. I, unfortunately, have to cancel the rest of the tour dates.”

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