[4] Following a sabbatical and brief period of focusing on acting, he resurged with the November 2024 release of his eponymous fifth studio album, which explored the folk genre and received positive reception but lesser commercial success than its predecessors.

Mendes started attracting viewers after he posted a cover from Justin Bieber's "As Long as You Love Me" on the social video app Vine in 2013 and got 10,000 likes and as many followers the next day.

[31] Also in 2015, Mendes opened for Taylor Swift during 1989 World Tour dates for North America and recorded "Believe" for the soundtrack of Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants.

[32][33] In late 2015, Mendes and Camila Cabello, who was at the time a member of the group Fifth Harmony, released their collaborative single "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

[63] The tracks he performed live were "Nervous",[64] "Lost in Japan",[65] "Perfectly Wrong",[66] and the duet with Julia Michaels "Like to be You".

[74] Mendes performed the remix version of the single during the American Music Awards of 2018 held in Los Angeles on October 9.

Parts of the dialogue between Mendes and Zac Brown Band, talking about music and experiences throughout their career, were shown in between the song performances.

[87] The song debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and marks Mendes and Cabello's second collaboration,[82] following "I Know What You Did Last Summer" released in 2015.

[101] On December 6, Mendes held a concert event titled, Wonder: The Experience, where he did a Q&A session, performed songs from the album, and talked about the behind the scenes of making of the record.

[104] That same month, it was announced that Mendes would serve as an executive producer – via his production banner, Permanent Content – for Legendary's TV adaptation of Square Enix's video game Life Is Strange.

[105] On September 23, 2021, Mendes announced that he would be embarking on Wonder: The World Tour, across North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, consisting of 64 dates and starting on March 14, 2022, at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen.

[111] An original song written and performed by Mendes, titled "Heartbeat," was released as the promotional single for the movie's soundtrack album on September 23.

On November 21, "Witness Me" featuring Mendes, Stormzy, and Kirk Franklin was released as the fifth single from Jacob Collier's album Djesse Vol.

Having made surprise guest appearances performing with Ed Sheeran, Noah Kahan, and Niall Horan since his hiatus, he announced he would be headlining the Rock in Rio festival by himself on September 22.

[115] To promote Shawn, Mendes embarked on an intimate concert tour of theatre shows throughout the places he recorded the album.

[121][122] Mendes has cited John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, and Bruno Mars as his main musical influences.

[128] For Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone, Mendes incorporates "catchy acoustic folk-pop tunes" in his catalogue,[122] while for Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times, "his soft, sometimes soulful pop-rock plays primarily to tweens and teenagers, but has also found traction on adult contemporary radio stations".

[140] During the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, SmileDirectClub released an advertisement showcasing a campaign between the company and Mendes with some of the proceeds going to "organizations that seek to improve children's health as well as mental and emotional well-being.

"[141] Later that month, Emporio Armani released a new black-and-white advertisement for its touchscreen smartwatches featuring an instrumental version of "In My Blood" with Mendes boxing.

The campaign was inspired by the lyrics to his first single, "Life of the Party", and addressed low self-esteem, depression, and awareness of self-harm.

[151] In September 2018, Mendes took part in the annual Global Citizen Festival held at Central Park, New York City.

"[154] In October 2018, Mendes, together with producer Teddy Geiger, released a cover of "Under Pressure" by the British rock band Queen and David Bowie.

[158] On October 20, 2018, Mendes performed along with other artists such as Khalid, NF, Marshmello, Meghan Trainor, and Ella Mai at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles for the "We Can Survive" event.

Wonder Grants aim to support and empower young creatives launching their projects across various fields, including music, film, education, science, environment, and technology.

Mendes also planned to donate one dollar per ticket sold in North America towards his foundation's “Wonder Grants” program, which he would award to one "youth changemaker" in every city the tour visited.

[167] In March 2020, Mendes participated in iHeart Media's Living Room Concert for America, a benefit to raise awareness and funds for the COVID-19 pandemic.

[168] In March and April 2020, Mendes participated in Global Citizen Festival's Together at Home virtual concert to raise awareness and funds for the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May 2020 he, alongside Camila Cabello, joined protests in Miami for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd, and has lent his Instagram to raise the voice of Black activists.

[172] On April 22, 2021, Mendes hosted a NASA video conference with the crew of Expedition 65 on board the International Space Station.

[173][174][175] In June 2021, Mendes, along with several other celebrities, signed an open letter to the United States Congress, urging lawmakers to pass the Equality Act.