Shawn Mendes has revealed a bold new tattoo with a shirtless photo, giving fans a close look at his latest ink.
The image, shared by Los Angeles-based tattoo artist Kane Navasard on 13 April, shows Mendes’ bare torso with a striking new design: a bald eagle soaring across the centre of his chest. This is believed to be the Canadian singer’s 19th tattoo.
Each of Mendes’ tattoos carries deep personal meaning. Among his ink collection are a light bulb on his right arm, symbolising his second studio album Illuminate, a meditating figure on his right wrist to represent his mindfulness practice, and the words “Good Boy” on his left arm — a likely tribute to his beloved dog, Tarzan.
So far, Mendes hasn’t commented publicly on the new eagle tattoo or what it represents.
Currently on tour promoting his fifth self-titled album, Mendes made headlines in March after leaving a cheeky comment on Bad Bunny’s Calvin Klein campaign. The singer simply wrote “guapo” — the Spanish word for “handsome” — under a promotional photo of the Puerto Rican star, which quickly sparked reactions online.
This moment followed Mendes’ recent reflections on his own journey with sexuality. During his For Friends and Family Tour stop in Colorado on 28 October, he paused to address speculation surrounding lyrics in his song The Mountain, which include the line: “You can say I like girls or boys, whatever fits your mould.”
Reflecting on years of public discussion about his sexuality, Mendes told the audience: “People have been talking about [my sexuality] since I was really young,” calling it “kinda silly” because “sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it’s so hard to just put into boxes.”
He continued: “It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me, something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover.”
Mendes described The Mountain as a deeply personal track that gave him a way to express his truth: “I’m speaking from the heart now because I just want to be open with everyone and live in my truth.”
Met with supportive applause, he added, “The truth is that I’m just figuring it out like everyone else. Sometimes I don’t know, and other times I do. It’s really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about it.”
He concluded with vulnerability: “I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. Yeah, that’s all I really wanna say about that for now.”
