What Taylor Swift Taught Shawn Mendes About Being a Performer

Shawn Mendes went from posting Vines from his bedroom to rocking arena stages around the world, but Tuesday (November 13) he opened up more about his continued battle with anxiety. During a panel at Billboard's Live Music Summit, Mendes revealed how Taylor Swift helped him conquer stage fright.

Just a hours before being awarded the Live Artist of the Year honor at the summit's awards portion, Mendes sat down for a discussion about his rise to fame with his manager Andrew Gertler and Billboard's West Coast Editor, Melinda Newman.

Reflecting on touring with megastar Taylor Swift for her 1989 World Tour in 2015, Mendes revealed the most important thing Swift taught him about getting past nerves and stage fright.

"She said to me one day, 'Are you nervous?'...I said, 'Yes. I just don’t want to mess up,'" the "In My Blood" singer recalled. "She goes, 'Everybody in the audience is there to have fun and support you. Nobody is there to judge.'"

"From that moment, I really learned what it means to be a performer and it wasn’t about being perfect. It was about enjoying it,” Mendes said. “Because you watch someone on stage and whatever they’re doing, if they’re really enjoying themselves, so are you. She went on stage every night to have fun, to enjoy and to like, beam happiness, because that’s what the live show is about. It wasn’t about being perfect. She’s perfect anyway, but that was the biggest thing I learned from her.”

Mendes revealed his on-going struggle with anxiety earlier this year when he said its what inspired his chart-topping hit "In My Blood."

Mendes has since gone on to headline his own successful global tours, and for all we know, it could be what Taylor said to him that fateful day that helped make it possible.

Celebrities Who Opened Up About Mental Health

ncG1vNJzZmion6Wws8HSoWWcp51kwKmt1qdkpp2embK0edOasKWnomLAuLXFrWSapqiesrXFjKyrmp%2BVYrOztcahq2aamaG5o7vAq5tmpJmrsm651KygnGWjqrqutdNo