9781422273296

CHAPTER 1

A STAR

IS BORN

FAME COMES KNOCKING In the hectic weeks after winning the cover contest, Mendes was offered meetings with multiple record labels. AndrewGelter from Island Records was one of these. Gelter was an artist development lead searching for young talent for the label. Gelter had been thinking about the rise to fame of Justin Bieber and Alessia Cara. What they both had in common wasYouTube. Gelter started scouring young performers’ channels, but nothing stuck with him. Then on The Voice, he heard the song “Say Something” performed. The tune was so simple and catchy, he knew it would be an ideal showcase for a talented singer. He went toYouTube and typed the name of the song in the search bar. Luckily, because Mendes had won the cover contest, he was the top search result. To Gelter, there was something about the blend of Mendes’ authentic voice and the no-frills guitar that had the makings of a star. Gelter reached out to Mendes’ mom, who was listed as his contact on YouTube. Soon after, Gelter started unofficially advising Mendes to help him navigate the minefields of the music industry.

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a star is born