Shawn Desman

Shawn Bosco Fernandes (born January 12, 1982), known by his stage name Shawn Desman, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, dancer, and television personality. Shawn was a staple of Canada's R&B scene in the 2000s and 2010s.

This article is about the Canadian sing. For his self-titled album, see Shawn Desman (album).
Shawn Desman
Desman performing in 2011
Desman performing in 2011
Background information
Birth nameShawn Fernandes
Born (1982-01-12) January 12, 1982
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • dancer
  • choreographer
  • television personality
Years active1995–present
Websiteshawndesman.com
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
Labels

Early life

Shawn Desman attended St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School in Toronto. After discovering his passion for performing, Desman's parents encouraged him to pursue a career in music. From age nine to 16, he made four Portuguese albums under his legal name, Shawn Fernandes. In 1998, Shawn was in the Boomtang Boys video for their song "Squeezetoy" as a dancer. According to his own account, he adopted the name Desman because in his youth his friends referred to him as "Dez, man" (based on the ending of his last name - Fernandes) – thus creating his artistic pseudonym Desman.

Career

2002–2005: Early beginnings

At 18, Desman was signed to BMG Music Canada and started recording an album, which was released in 2002. The self-titled breakthrough album featured three top ten singles ("Shook", "Spread My Wings" and "Get Ready") on the Canadian charts. The album went on to achieve gold certification in Canada.[1] The single, "Spread My Wings", is a cover of the unreleased group Vega, featuring Chilli of TLC.

His follow-up album, Back for More garnered a Juno Award for Best R&B Recording which featured the number one hit single "Let's Go". After the release of his second album, BMG dropped him from the label. Undeterred and optimistic about his future, he was signed to Universal Music Canada.

2010–2013: Fresh, and producer work

His 2010 album Fresh garnered two gold singles, one platinum single, Video of the Year at the Much Music Video Awards, Canadian Dance/Pop Song of the year at the Stylus Awards, as well as SOCAN Number 1 Award for Electric/Night Like This.

Shawn Desman is also a producer and has worked with various artists producing hit singles for Nick Carter, Kreesha Turner, Keshia Chanté as well as contestants on YTV's The Next Star where he produced the song (One More First Chance) for Brock Zanrosso in 2009 and "It Might Be You" for contestant Parker Schmidt in 2011.

Desman performing at the Mod Club in Toronto, November 2013

2013–2018: Alive, and being dropped by Universal Music

In 2013, Shawn Desman released his fourth studio album, Alive, along with an accompanying short film of the same name. The album spawned two hit singles; "Nobody Does It Like You" and "Dum Da Dum". But in 2015, Universal Music told him that they would be dropping Desman from the label to move in a different direction. In 2018, due to low ticket sales, a Shawn Desman concert in Wasaga Beach was made free for the public.[2]

2020–present: Staging his comeback, and new single Maniac

Just before the pandemic hit, Desman was coming to terms with the possibility that his music career was truly over. That's when he received a call from his best friend, Canadian country music singer Tebey, who suggested they collaborate on a project, which they called RadioClub, to help get him back into making music. With RadioClub, Desman released a dance remix of Rick Astley's song "Never Gonna Give You Up", which he said has been a huge success with 25 million streams.

In July 2022, Shawn Desman performed at Drake's All Canadian North Stars concert at OVO Fest, featuring a dozen Canadian hip-hop and R&B artists. After announcing the show on Instagram, Desman got a call from Jamie Appleby, the owner of Wax Records, who told him this was his big chance. After the show, Drake approached him in the hallway outside of the green room, praising him for his performance and had encouraged him to continue making music.[3]

A few months later he released a new single called "Maniac", his first single since 2015’s “Obsession”.[4]

In 2023, he participated in an all-star recording of Serena Ryder's single "What I Wouldn't Do", which was released as a charity single to benefit Kids Help Phone's Feel Out Loud campaign for youth mental health.[5]

Personal life

Desman is of Portuguese descent. He has two younger brother named Jonathan and Danny Fernandes. He is also a cousin to another Canadian singer Tyler Medeiros, who signed to Danny's former record label CP records.

In 2015, Desman's wife became ill, so he made the difficult decision to step away from his music career to focus on his family.

Accolades
  • Shawn Desman's eponymous debut album was certified Gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association.
  • In 2006, won a Juno Award for "R&B/Soul Recording of the Year".
  • In 2011, won "Video of the year" at the Much Music Video Awards for his video "Electric/Night Like This".
  • In 2011, won Canadian Dance/Pop Single of the Year at the Stylus Awards.
  • In 2011, awarded SOCAN No. 1 Award for Electric/Night Like This reaching No. 1.
  • In 2013, ALIVE movie awarded Best Outstanding Short Film at Reel World Film Festival

Discography

Studio albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak Certifications
CAN
[6]
Shawn Desman
  • Released: October 30, 2002
  • Label: UOMO, Sony BMG
  • Format: CD
 38
Back for More
  • Released: May 3, 2005
  • Label: UOMO, Sony BMG
  • Format: CD, digital download
 —
Fresh
  • Released: August 3, 2010
  • Label: UOMO, Universal Canada
  • Format: CD, digital download
 29
Alive
  • Released: February 5, 2013
  • Label: UOMO, Universal Canada
  • Format: CD, digital download
 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
CAN
[8]		 CAN AC
[9]		 CAN CHR
[10]		 CAN HAC
[11]		 AUS
[12]		 GER
[13]
1995 "Tu és Minha" — — — — — — Portuguese albums
1999 "Don't Want to Lose You" 19 — — — — —
2002 "Get Ready" 1 — — — 37 — Shawn Desman
"Shook" 3 — — — — 64
2003 "Spread My Wings"[14] — — — — — —
"Sexy"[15] — — — — — — Back For More
2005 "Let's Go" — — 3 — — 27
"Red Hair"[16] — — 9 — — —
2010 "Shiver" 18 33 16 18 — — Fresh
"Night Like This" 22 9 9 13 — —
  • MC: Platinum[7]
"Electric" 23 — 11 15 — —
  • MC: Platinum[7]
2011 "Moneyshot" / "Something Stupid"[upper-alpha 1] — — — — — —
2012 "Nobody Does It Like You" 18 12 23 12 — — Alive
"Dum Da Dum" 32 14 14 21 — —
2013 "Too Young to Care"[18] — — — — — —
"Stuck"[19] — — — — — —
2015 "Victoria"[20] — — 31 48 — — Non-album singles
"Obsession"[21] — — 24 — — —
2022 "Maniac"[22] 71 — 48 — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that territory or format.
Notes
  1. "Moneyshot" and "Something Stupid" were released as a dual-single in 2011.[17]

Features
  • 2003: "Movie Star (Remix)" Rascalz feat. Shawn Desman
  • 2006: "All Eyes on Me" Puppet feat. Shawn Desman
  • 2010: "Feel It" Danny Fernandes feat. Shawn Desman

Collaborations

Filmography

References
  1. "Music Canada - Gold/Platinum". musiccanada.com. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  2. "No one wanted to pay to see a Shawn Desman concert – so an Ontario beach town had to make it free". National Post. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  3. Shawn Desman Says Drake Spurred His Comeback, Gets Emotional: ‘It’s Been Really Tough’
  4. Shawn Desman is back with a new sound after stepping away from music nearly a decade ago
  5. Brent Furdyk, "Feel Out Loud: Alessia Cara, Serena Ryder & More Canadian Artists Collaborate On New Single Promoting Youth Mental Health Initiative". Entertainment Tonight Canada, March 2, 2023.
  6. Peak chart positions for albums in Canada:
  7. "Canadian certifications – Shawn Desman". Music Canada. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  8. "Shawn Desman Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  9. "Shawn Desman Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  10. "Shawn Desman Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  11. "Shawn Desman Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  12. Steffen Hung. "Shawn Desman – Get Ready". australian-charts.com. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  13. Peak positions on German Singles Chart:
  14. "Shawn Desman – Spread My Wings (Vinyl)". discogs. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  15. "Sexy – Shawn Desman | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  16. "Promo Only – Promo Only – Chart Radio 096 – 2005 07 Jul :: Various Artists [CHRRADIO_096]". University of British Columbia Music Database. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  17. Collins, Leah (June 15, 2011). "MMVAs Profile: Shawn Desman on 'Electric/Night Like This'". Ottawa Citizen. Postmedia Network. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  18. "Virgin Radio 96 :: Shawn Desman – Too Young To Care". CJFM-FM. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  19. "Stuck (Version Francaise) – Single by Shawn Desman". iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. January 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  20. "Victoria – Single by Shawn Desman". iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  21. "Obsession – Single by Shawn Desman". iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. June 16, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  22. "Maniac – Single by Shawn Desman". iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
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