Shawn Mendes is no stranger to success on the Billboard charts — he’s landed eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and managed two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. But even with all of his impressive numbers, he’s still blown away by the fact that he’s nominated in three categories for this year’s Billboard Music Awards.
“It’s such an honor to be nominated, because it really feels like true recognition of the success my music has had over the past year, and for the growth from my first album to Illuminate,” Mendes tells Billboard over email. “I know it also means so much to my fans, which is always incredible.”
Mendes is up for top male artist, top social artist and, the biggest honor of the night, top artist. While he clearly deserves some major kudos for earning such recognition, his way of finding out was rather unceremonious.
“I think I actually found out on Twitter. One morning I just saw all of the fans tweeting about it and it felt unreal to know how far things have come,” he said. “This one, for some reason, feels extra special because it feels a bit like the culmination of a year where I really wanted to show everyone a new side of myself, and it feels validating that I did actually accomplish that.”
Despite being up for the biggest award of the night, unfortunately Mendes won’t be in attendance to see if he bests the likes of Adele, Drake, Beyonce, Justin Bieber and Rihanna (also up for top artist are The Weeknd, Twenty One Pilots, The Chainsmokers and Ariana Grande). His reason for missing isn’t so bad, though: He’ll be performing in Copenhagen as part of his Illuminate World Tour.
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Once Mendes gets a chance to watch the BBMAs — “I am going to make sure to watch from there,” he promises — he’s most looking forward to seeing what Ed Sheeran brings during his performance. He’s also pumped for pal Camila Cabello‘s performance, as she’ll be making the TV debut of her new single “Crying in the Club” on Sunday night. A former collaborator of Cabello’s, Mendes knows it’ll definitely be a moment in BBMAs history. “She’s going to kill it!”
The Billboard Music Awards will air Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
