MTV Unplugged: Revived, Shawn Mendes Will Perform
Paul Dailly
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MTV's Unplugged will be making a comeback to the network next month after over three years away.
Unplugged focuses on the freshest musical talent around, and the first episode back will feature a performance by Shawn Mendes, who is currently No. 1 at Top 40 radio with "Nothing Holdin' Me Back."
The reboot will debut September 8 and will open with a performance by Mendes to celebrate the return of the iconic music series which first aired in 1989.
The show has had the likes of Jay Z, Miley Cyrus, Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Katy Perry, Adele and Lil Wayne performing over the years, so it's clear it is widely regarded among the music community.
Mendes opened up to Variety about wanting to appear on the show ever since he watched a clip of Pearl Jam performing from all way back in 1992.
“It wasn’t so much about the commercial, showman side of it; It was really about the music,” Mendes revealed.
The new run is being billed as the "2.0 version" of the series, according to Amani Duncan, MTV SVP of Music and Executive In Charge of Music for the series.
Each show is set to take place a venue that has meaning to whichever artist will be performing, so it will make it a personal affair.
“Let’s take it to cool locations was the thought,” Duncan explains.
“Like where the artist played their first major show, or maybe they choose a location to make a pro-social statement, or it’s, ‘I always wanted to play Carnegie Hall.'”
It's certainly an interesting decision to bring the series back.
For many years, the network has been the butt of many jokes as fans of music grew frustrated that it was going in a direction that included reality TV and scripted series.
With this announcement and the recent announcement that The Shannara Chronicles is moving to Spike TV, it seems evident the network is attempting to recapture some of its former glory.
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Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
