Shawn Mendes cancels the rest of world tour for mental health break

Canadian pop star Shawn Mendes has cancelled the rest of his Wonder world tour to care for his mental health, the singer announced in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

"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," the 23-year-old singer wrote. 

"I unfortunately have to cancel the rest of the tour dates in North America, and the UK/Europe."

More than 70 performances were cancelled, including four in Canada: two shows in Toronto on July 31 and Aug. 2, and two shows in Montreal on Aug. 15 and 16.

The scrapped concerts would have stretched into mid-2023. To date, only seven shows on his tour were actually performed, including shows in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Mendes, who was born in Pickering, Ont., assured fans that the cancelled tour won't affect his plans to make new music — or to perform onstage again in the future.

"I promise I will be back as soon as I've taken the right time to heal," he wrote.

Earlier this month, Mendes told fans that he would be taking a three-week break from the tour, postponing a string of shows in the U.S., saying that he had "hit a breaking point" after touring steadily since he was 15.

The singer has long been open about his mental health struggles and has said that he hopes his honesty helps and empowers others.

In 2018, he told Tom Power, host of CBC's q, about writing music to cope with anxiety.

"The only way progression is going to happen is by talking about it and by allowing everybody to talk about it," Mendes said. "It just becomes more of a normal thing, and hopefully in 10 years from now, nobody is really worried about it."