<![CDATA[Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes Kick Off the 2020 American Music Awards With Moving Performance

On Sunday night, fellow Canadians and global pop sensations Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes took the stage together to perform at the 2020 American Music Awards. The performance marked a return to the AMA stage for Justin who hasn't performed at the awards show for four years.

The two debuted their song "Monster" from Shawn's forthcoming fourth studio album Wonder which drops Dec. 4. The song, which Shawn wrote, explores all the trappings of being a celebrity and dealing with society's expectations of you. It was a fitting song and collaboration for the musicians.

The performance initially kicked off with Justin performing his single "Lonely" on a stage full of mirrors, before moving into his track "Holy," about falling in love and reuniting with his wife Hailey Bieber. After Justin's "Holy" concluded, Shawn, playing guitar, appeared on a higher platform, surrounded by trees. Justin soon joined him on stage where they performed "Monster" side by side.

"Monster" connected perfectly with Justin's song "Holy," thanks to the lyrics "I'll take responsibility for everything I've done / Holding it against me like you're the holy one."

It's a wonder it took these two this long to perform together since their chemistry is electric! To promote the song and their performance, Justin took to Twitter to poke a little fun at Shawn and brought up that infamous 2015 radio interview where he asked, "Who is Shawn Mendes?"

Shawn tweeted back with a picture of himself and actor Jacob Tremblay who played a young Justin in his latest music video for his song "Lonely." Shawn wrote back, "you don't remember us taking this pic together?" Clearly, he's no stranger to the hit singer now.

While Justin and Shawn have never worked together on a song, Shawn is good friends with Justin's wife Hailey. The two attended the Met Gala together in 2018.

ABC

Shawn sat down with Apple Music's Zane Lowe to talk about how Justin has influenced him over the years, and why "Monster" is one of his favorite songs.

"He was Elvis to me," Shawn said of Justin. "To come back around and have this very human conversation with him…it feels like one of the most special songs I've ever wrote."