Shawn Mendes performed the song he's been teasing on all of his social media at SXSW yesterday (March 19.)
He debuted the new breakup song "When You're Gone" while performing at the Billboard and Samsung’s The Stage event in Austin. It was his second-to-last song of the night, right after his most recent single "It'll Be Okay." Mendes sings in the chorus, “It’s hard for me to let go of you, so I’m just trying to hold on/I don’t want to know what it’s like when you’re gone. The singer teased the new song on his social media earlier last week (March 14)
See the performance and Shawn's post about it below.
Fans have responded positively to the new song:
OH MY GOD SHAWN MENDES WAS PLAYING HIS NEW SONG WHEN YOU’RE GONE LIVE AT THE MUSIC FESTIVAL TONIGHT & IT LITERALLY SOUNDS GOOD. I’M LITERALLY SCREAMING RIGHT NOW AHHHHHH
“i didn’t know that loving you was the happiest i’ve ever been” THE LYRICS OF WHEN YOU’RE GONE TEAR ME TO PIECES BUT THE RYTHIM GIVES ME LIFE SHAWN MENDES REALLY DID THAT
The song is seemingly about his breakup with Camila Cabello. In a video posted to his social media yesterday, he shared the inspiration behind the lyrics of the new track.