After going through a breakup at the end of 2021, Shawn Mendes followed in the footsteps of many single people before him, and underwent what looked like a bit of a drastic haircut earlier this year.
The singer took things a little further than a classic “breakup bangs” look, and instead just went all in on a buzzcut.
But Mendes’ reasoning for the new look during a transformative period of his life was actually pretty simple.
“I think everyone should know what they look like with a shaved head,” the “Wonder” crooner told the WSJ. magazine in an interview published for the outlet’s “My Monday Morning” series.
“I also was just feeling this urge to just shake myself up a little bit,” the singer added.
Mendes began shaking things up last July. Just months after splitting with his longtime girlfriend, Camila Cabello, the singer said he would be postponing his Wonder world tour after hitting “a breaking point.”
“After speaking with my team and health professionals, I need to take some time to heal and take care of myself and my mental health, first and foremost,” the singer said at the time.
Just a few weeks later, he canceled his tour in its entirety ― something he told WSJ. Magazine was “very difficult” to do at the time.
For the singer, it involved, “a lot of doing therapy, a lot of trying to understand how I was feeling and what was making me feel that way.”
“It’s been a lot of work, but I think the last year and a half has been the most eye-opening and growing and beautiful and just healing process of my life,” he said.
“I’m also really grateful for all the people that were so accepting and loving and kind and understanding, Mendes added. “And it just really made me see how culture is really starting to get to a place where mental health is really becoming a priority.”