Another Star Steps Away to Tend to Mental Health

Singer Shawn Mendes postpones 3 weeks' worth of concerts: 'I've hit a breaking point'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 9, 2022 10:00 AM CDT
Shawn Mendes on Hiatus: 'I've Hit a Breaking Point
Shawn Mendes arrives at the JUNO Awards on May 15 at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto.   (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

Shawn Mendes is a singer, but he's just joined the likes of such athletes as tennis phenom Naomi Osaka, gymnastics star Simone Biles, and Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley in stepping away from his job to protect his mental health. "I've hit a breaking point," the 23-year-old Canadian performer announced on Friday in an Instagram post, and so he'll be taking the next three weeks off from the concert circuit on his Wonder Tour. "I've been touring since I was 15 and to be honest it's always been difficult to be on the road away from friends and family," the "Treat You Better" and "Stitches" singer writes.

After some previous time off, he noted, he'd felt ready to begin touring again, but he now calls that decision "premature." "Unfortunately the toll of the road and the pressure has caught up to me," he wrote, noting that he consulted with his team and health pros before making the call to take a break. Mendes adds he'll be on hiatus through a show scheduled in Uncasville, Conn., which People reports is on July 29. Today notes Mendes has been upfront in the past about mental health issues and dealing with his emotions, as evidenced by a particularly vulnerable message he put up on Twitter in April. Mendes' Wonder Tour is currently set to run through Oct. 26, when it will wrap up in Newark, NJ. He has a European tour scheduled to kick off next May. (More Shawn Mendes stories.)

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