Shawn Mendes cancels world tour: “I have to put my health as my first priority”

Singer Shawn Mendes announced on Instagram Wednesday he is canceling the rest of his upcoming world tour dates. Mendes had previously postponed several shows, citing his mental health, but will now end the tour early to take time to heal. 

“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,” Mendes said Wednesday. 

“Wonder: The World Tour” was in support of the singer’s fourth studio album “Wonder,” which debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 charts. The tour began in June in Portland, Oregon, and was slated to run until August 2023, with stops in North America, the U.K. and Europe.

The 23-year-old said he was initially excited to be touring for the first time since the pandemic, but he realized he “wasn’t totally prepared for the toll that being back on the road would take on me.”

Mendes reassured fans he is not done writing music and has not ruled out touring again in the future, but said “at this time I have to put my health as my first priority.”

“I know you all have been waiting so long to see these shows, and it breaks my heart to tell you this but I promise I will be back as soon as I’ve taken the right time to heal,” Mendes added Wednesday. “I love you all and thank you all so much for supporting me and sticking by me on this journey.”

The news comes after the singer previously postponed several weeks of shows, saying he had reached a “breaking point.”

“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,” Mendes wrote at the time. “After a few years off the road, I felt like I was ready to dive back in, but that decision was premature and unfortunately the toll of the road and the pressure has caught up to me and I’ve hit a breaking point.”