Shawn Mendes Says He’s ‘Figuring Out’ His Sexuality During Performance: ‘I Don’t Really Know Sometimes, And I Know Other Times’

Singer Shawn Mendes admitted he is “figuring out” his sexuality during Monday’s performance in Colorado.

The 26-year-old’s recent concerts have featured performances of his upcoming song “The Mountain,” through which Mendes discusses his sexuality.

“Some days, I have a change of heart / You can say you need to say / You can say I’m too young / You can say I’m too old / You can say I like girls or boys / Whatever fits your mold.”

Footage of Mendes singing at the Red Rocks Amphitheater shows him elaborating on his lyrics.

“Since I was really young, there’s been this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it for so long,” he told the crowd. “I think it’s kind of silly, because I think sexuality is such a beautiful and complex thing, and it’s so hard to just put into boxes.”

“It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me, something that I was figuring out myself, something that I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover,” Mendes continued. He said his decision to speak “freely now” reflects an effort to be “closer to everyone.”

Mendes added that the “real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone. I don’t really know sometimes, and I know other times. And it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that.”

“I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things,” he concluded. “And that’s all I really want to say about that for now.”

Mendes has been traveling the country performing new music from his forthcoming LP, which will be available for download on Nov. 15. Earlier this month, he brought a Nashville crowd to tears by performing a song about a friend who died of an overdose.