While performing at the historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre for his For Friends and Family Tour on Monday evening, Shawn Mendes addressed his sexuality, speaking directly to his fans during the intimate moment.
“I was really young when I started. I was 15 years old,” said the singer-songwriter from the stage. “The truth is that I didn’t get to do a lot of 15-year-old things and discover parts of myself that you do at 15.”
“There’s this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it so long,” he added, saying it was “kind of silly, because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it’s so hard to just put into boxes.”
“It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me. Something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover it,” he continued. “The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone. And it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that. And I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. And that’s all I really want to say about that for now.”
Mendes began to play his unreleased track, “The Mountain,” which he’s been playing throughout his tour. The lyrics see the musician sing: “You can say I’m too young/You can say I’m too old/You can say I like girls or boys, whatever fits your mold.”
When speaking to the crowd on Monday, Mendes touched on his journey while penning the new song. “Writing the song felt really important to me because it felt like a moment where I could address it in a way that felt close to my heart,” he said. “And I guess I’m just speaking freely now, because I just want to be able to be closer to everyone and just kind of be in my truth.”
When speaking to Rolling Stone in 2018, the year he released his self-titled third studio album making Mendes the third-youngest artist to achieve three Number One records, the singer opened up about the invasive comments and speculations about his sexuality online.
“I thought, ‘You fucking guys are so lucky I’m not actually gay and terrified of coming out,’ ” he told Rolling Stone at the time.. “That’s something that kills people. That’s how sensitive it is. Do you like the songs? Do you like me? Who cares if I’m gay?”