Shawn Mendes scores highest career debut with new song, hits 21 million views on first day

Singer Shawn Mendes has scored his biggest career debut with the song If I can't have you, which had more than 30 million first-day streams.

Released on May 3, the song hit No. 1 on the iTunes chart upon its release and the music video racked up 21 million views on YouTube within the first 24 hours. Till Wednesday afternoon, the pop song's black-and-white video had more than 39 million views, reports variety.com.

The Grammy-nominated singer performed the song for the first time on the May 4 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Adam Sandler and appeared in a sketch. The track came together with longtime Mendes collaborators Scott Harris, Teddy Geiger, and Nate Mercereau, and was originally written with singer Dua Lipa in mind.

Last year, Mendes received his first Grammy nominations following the release of his third studio album. The self-titled project was up for a best pop vocal album and his hit single In my blood was nominated for song of the year. In addition to In my blood, Lost in Japan and Youth all charted in the US Billboard Hot 100. 

If I can't have you is the artist's first release in 2019.