Fans have criticised Shawn Mendes’ new wildfire-inspired cover art. The Canadian singer-songwriter released a new track titled “What the Hell Are We Dying for?” today (Friday, June 9).
The cover art is of the World Trade Centre in New York City, covered in clouds of yellow smoke that came from the Canadian wildfires.
Violent wildfires in Canada have destroyed homes and caused thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Dangerously high levels of smoke have spread to the US (New York, Minnesota and Washington, D.C) and residents have been urged to stay indoors and wear masks to protect themselves from toxic particles.
WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DYING FOR ?
— Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes) June 9, 2023
MIDNIGHT ET. pic.twitter.com/C2Yo350MOs
Mendes’ announcement was met with a mixture of confusion, anger and support from his fans.
“I genuinely don’t understand why Shawn Mendes thought it was a good idea to use the fires as cover art for a song? like it’s not okay…,” one tweeter said.
Others have called Mendes "stupid", "corny" and wrong for trying to "capitalise on a natural disaster".
Someone who has been “a fan since day one” commented: “This is not my favorite cover art for the song.” Another called it “horrible timing”.
“Ain’t no way you used this photo as an album cover,” one tweeter said.
However, others supported the art. Someone whose family had to be evacuated said: "It means the world to me that you’re talking about this."
"Shawn Mendes ALWAYS cared about climate change, he always donated and showed he cares through art too, he never cared about charts, plus it can give more visibility to what is happening and more people can help. your anger makes no sense," another fan commented.
Following the viral tweet, Shawn Mendes posted another tweet three hours later, announcing that proceeds from the single are being donated to Canadian Red Cross, which led to many suggesting Mendes should have used a photo from the wildfires in Canada instead.
also donating to Canadian Red Cross, visit this link to learn more or donate if you can ❤️🩹 https://t.co/esJ4c9LOJp
— Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes) June 9, 2023
Mendes popped onto the music scene in 2013 on video-sharing platform Vine, posting song covers. He is well known for his single "Stitches", which hit number one in the UK, and the top 10 in the US and Canada. Since breaking into the industry, Mendes has worked with the likes of Julia Michaels, Taylor Swift, Camila Cabello and Justin Bieber. He has previously spoken about the overwhelming pressure of fame, telling the Evening Standard in May 2023 that “nowadays, everything is so volatile.”
