MusicThe duo performed an updated version of one of Mendes’ fan-favourite songs and received rapturous applause. The duo performed an updated version of one of Mendes’ fan-favourite songs Kelsey Adams · CBC Music · Posted: Oct 14, 2025 11:50 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoShawn Mendes brought out Tia Wood on his Oct. 12 Vancouver tour stop. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for AEG, Brian de Rivera Simon/Getty Images)Shawn Mendes brought out emerging Cree and Salish singer Tia Wood to perform during his Vancouver tour stop at Rogers Arena on Oct. 12.It was Wood’s second time performing at the 19,000-person capacity venue, following the Juno Awards in March. Before inviting her out, Mendes shared some words about his recent encounters with Indigenous communities across the world.“I’ve been so incredibly lucky and blessed over the last few years to spend some time with some Indigenous communities around the world,” he said.“What I know for sure is that the words will fall flat when describing how healing, and how beautiful, and how much we have to learn from the Indigenous people of this world,” he continued. They sang a duet of Youth, a song from Mendes’s 2018 self-titled album that turns hopelessness into a rallying cry for disaffected young people. In an ode to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, Wood added her own verse to Mendes’ song: “Where do I start?/ How do I say it?/ My voice is so tired and I cannot fake it/ Our mothers, daughters, sisters/ Go missing every day/ Hard to feel hopeful/ When hope feels far away.”Blending pop and powwow music, their two voices came together on the chorus, as Mendes strummed along on the guitar. After they finished the performance, Wood was visibly overwhelmed by the enthusiastic applause. Afterwards she posted to Facebook: “That was for my rez babies everywhere. I spoke my truth and tried to represent the best way I could. Spoke about our missing relatives,” she wrote.Her sister, also a singer, Fawn Wood posted a story congratulating her on the performance, writing: “Watching my sister step into a light we always knew she was meant for has been a dream.” Wood shared on Facebook that her family wasn’t able to accompany her as she walked on stage, but “they all war cried and lele’d behind me … a reminder that I wasn’t walking on stage alone.”In an Instagram post sharing a video of the performance, Mendes wrote that he was “honoured to share the stage” with Wood. Mendes’ On the Road Again tour will conclude on Oct. 17 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and he recently released a new single, Home, with Eddie Benjamin. Wood has a new single, Sage my Soul, coming out on Oct. 17.WATCH | Tia Wood performs with Snotty Nose Rez Kids at the 2025 Juno Awards:ABOUT THE AUTHORKelsey Adams is an arts and culture journalist from Toronto. Her writing explores the intersection of music, art and film, with a focus on the work of marginalized cultural producers. She is an associate producer for CBC Music.
Shawn Mendes was honoured to sing with emerging Cree singer Tia Wood at his Vancouver show
