97-406: " American Town " is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran , taken from his seventh studio album Autumn Variations , released on 29 September 2023, through Gingerbread Man Records . It was sent to Italian contemporary hit radio on the same day as the album by Warner Records as its lead single. Sheeran wrote the song with producer Aaron Dessner . "American Town" has been described as
194-986: A Station Session in St. Pancras International in June 2010. Some of the episode is on their Facebook page Sheeran also self-released two other EPs in 2010, Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford and Songs I Wrote with Amy , which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with Amy Wadge . When in Los Angeles in 2010, he was invited to perform at The Foxxhole, a club run by actor Jamie Foxx , which ended with an invitation to stay at Foxx's home. On 8 January 2011, Sheeran released another independent EP, No. 5 Collaborations Project , featuring grime artists such as Wiley , Jme , Devlin , Sway and Ghetts . With this EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention for having reached number 2 in
291-534: A "de facto sequel" to Sheeran's 2017 single, " Galway Girl ". In "American Town", Sheeran sings about falling in love with an "English girl" in an American Town and the two getting "Chinese food in small white boxes, live a life we saw in Friends ". The song also contains sung-rapped vocals from Sheeran and lyrics about walking in the cold with dungarees on. Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( / ˈ ʃ ɪər ən / SHEER -ən ; born 17 February 1991)
388-643: A "natural performer", and his classmates also voted him "most likely to be famous". He was accepted at the National Youth Theatre in London as a teenager. He successfully auditioned for Youth Music Theatre UK in 2007 and joined their production of Frankenstein – A New Musical in Plymouth . He is a patron of Youth Music Theatre UK (now renamed British Youth Music Theatre) and of Access to Music , where he studied Artist Development. Sheeran
485-448: A "super posh" restaurant while narrating the message he had sent to the company. As the other wealthy diners look on in horror at the sight of a ketchup bottle, he flips the bottle, bangs it against his hand to budge the ketchup and smothers it all over his food. The company released a limited edition ketchup product known as Ed Sheeran X Heinz ketchup, also known as "Heinz Edchup". Take Me Back to London " Take Me Back to London "
582-640: A US tour of 6,000–9,000-capacity venues. "The A Team" received a nomination for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards . Elton John , who runs Sheeran's management company, canvassed the award organisers to get Sheeran a performance slot at the ceremony but was told that Sheeran alone was not high-profile enough. John decided to appear with Sheeran to circumvent this problem. Sheeran was also featured on some tracks from Irish singer Foy Vance 's fourth album Joy of Nothing . From March to September 2013, Sheeran played at arenas and stadiums across North America as
679-519: A bar located on Portobello Road in Notting Hill . The bar is called "Bertie Blossoms", and named after his wife Cherry Seaborn. Sheeran performed a gig in Bristol, which raised £40,000 for a charity that reaches out to street sex workers . "It's good to show insight that these people are real people with real emotions and they deserve the same charity work as anyone else," Sheeran said. "There's
776-439: A beach in the coastal Suffolk town of Lowestoft . On 1 March 2023, Sheeran officially announced on all social media platforms that his sixth studio album, - ("Subtract"), would be released on 5 May 2023. Sheeran released the album's lead single, " Eyes Closed " with its accompanying music video on 24 March 2023. " Boat " was released as the second single off the record on 21 April 2023. The third single, " Life Goes On ",
873-429: A bottle on tour, and has a Heinz Ketchup tattoo on his arm—he put forward an idea he had written for their next TV campaign, and the company responded. A representative from Heinz stated that "1/3 of @HEINZ Instagram posts include people mentioning or tagging Ed, dating all the way back to 2014." Poking fun at people who turn their nose up at those who ask for ketchup in fancy restaurants, the advert sees him walking into
970-1059: A donation to Ipswich Hospital . In June 2020, Sheeran made a "founding gift" to launch Suffolk Community Foundation's "Rebuilding Local Lives Appeal" in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on the celebration day of the county, "Suffolk Day". Sheeran has donated over £1 million to local charities in Suffolk amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including to a children's hospital ward. Sheeran's parents organised The Ed Sheeran Made in Suffolk Legacy Auction on 23 October 2020 which ran until 8 November. The auction had 220 lots, including items donated by other celebrities such as David Beckham , Kylie Minogue and Usain Bolt . Sheeran has donated some of his personal items including handwritten lyrics from his song "Perfect", lego bricks he played with as
1067-521: A gut-punch break-up and a trawl around a harshly lit shopping centre. They're for life's big moments, with all the cinematic edge of a Richard Curtis film. He's also malleable – when he's done with hip-hop , for example, he doesn't need an image overhaul to then revert to balladry. If one genre isn't to your tastes, then fear not, another will be along soon. Sheeran has also cited the Beatles , Nizlopi and Eminem as his biggest musical influences. He
SECTION 10
#17327718142061164-593: A kid, handmade You Need Me EP from 2009 and a £3 ticket to his first gig at the British Legion in Framlingham. The auction was made to raise money for Suffolk charities such as GeeWizz and Zest who both support children and young adults in the county, including redeveloping a playground for kids with special educational needs and disabilities in Ipswich. In November Sheeran sold one of his paintings, marking
1261-533: A lot more popular charities that get a lot of attention. And with certain subjects like this they're often washed over and people don't necessarily give them the attention they deserve." Tickets were available to those taking part in the charity's Give it up for One25 campaign by giving something up for 125 hours and hitting the £40,000 fundraising mark. Sheeran frequently gives away his clothes to charity shops around Suffolk, his home county. An ambassador for East Anglia 's Children's Hospice, he has donated clothes to
1358-566: A new version of "Bad Habits" with the pop metal group Bring Me the Horizon in February. Later that year it was reported that he was in contact with Suffolk extreme metal group Cradle of Filth over a possible project, with frontman Dani Filth confirming progress on the collaboration in August. In July, he launched a collaboration with clothing brand Lucy & Yak which was inspired by
1455-521: A number of countries by debuting in the top two positions of the charts. He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week. By March 2017, Sheeran had accumulated ten top-10 singles from ÷ on the UK Singles Chart , breaking the record for most top-10 UK singles from one album. His fourth single from ÷ , " Perfect ", reached number one in the US, Australia, and
1552-680: A scene from the 2003 romantic-comedy film Love Actually , the song's music video sees the duo pay homage to scenes from past British Christmas hits, including " Last Christmas ", " Walking in the Air ", " Merry Christmas Everyone ", and " Stay Another Day ". All of the UK profits from the song went to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Debuting at number one in
1649-602: A single featured on Swift's fourth studio album, Red . Sheeran also contributed two songs to One Direction's second studio album, Take Me Home , released in November 2012; the single " Little Things " became the group's second number-one in the UK. Sheeran's album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 , while "The A Team" reached No. 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 . In late 2012 and early 2013, he headlined
1746-413: A single-coloured background with a solid mathematical symbol. On 2 January, he posted a 10-second video on Twitter and other social media platforms, revealing the tracklist and cover art of his fourth studio album, ÷ ("Divide"), which was released on 3 March 2017. The album debuted at number one in the UK, the US, Germany, Australia, Canada and other major markets. With first week sales of 672,000 it
1843-475: A video through SB.TV —a channel launched by British entrepreneur Jamal Edwards —and rapper Example invited Sheeran to tour with him. In the same month, he also released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his future debut single, " The A Team ". Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan base expanded, with him also receiving praise from The Independent newspaper and Elton John . He played
1940-596: Is a second cousin of Northern Irish broadcaster Gordon Burns , who hosted the British game show The Krypton Factor . Sheeran began recording music in 2004, and at the age of thirteen independently released his first collection of work, titled Spinning Man . He has been friends with fellow English singer Passenger since he was 15, with the two playing the same gig in Cambridge. He moved to London in 2008 and began playing in small venues. In 2008, he auditioned for
2037-400: Is a culture publicist turned jewellery designer. His parents ran Sheeran Lock, an independent art consultancy, from 1990 to 2010. Sheeran sang at a local church choir at the age of four, learned how to play the guitar at age eleven, and began writing songs while at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham. He also played the cello when he was younger. A 2004 school report described him as
SECTION 20
#17327718142062134-437: Is a song by British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran featuring British rapper Stormzy . It was released through Asylum and Atlantic Records as the final single from the former's compilation album No.6 Collaborations Project (2019). The song was written by Sheeran, Shellback , Karl Sandberg , Frederik Gibson and Michael Omari Jr. , with production from Skrillex , Kenny Beats and Fred . The song reached number one on
2231-596: Is also a fan of heavier music and cites bands such as Cradle of Filth , Slipknot , Korn , Marilyn Manson and Bring Me the Horizon as other influences. As a teenager, he also had a Kerrang! subscription. According to Sheeran, he had a stutter in his speech when he was younger, and he credited rapping along to Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP for helping him stammer less. He was also inspired by " Cannonball " singer-songwriter Damien Rice in 2002, with Sheeran stating, "seeing him play this small club in Ireland, I
2328-712: Is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire , and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk , he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play No. 5 Collaborations Project . He signed with Asylum Records the same year. Sheeran's debut album, + (" Plus "), was released in September 2011 and topped the UK Albums Chart . It contained his first hit single " The A Team ". In 2012, Sheeran won
2425-470: Is an influence. His aunt gave him 10 pounds to buy a CD and the first CD he purchased was Conspiracy of One and he used to play their song Million Miles Away in front of a mirror. Sheeran later performed the song with the band. In March 2015, Sheeran announced he was setting up a record label, Gingerbread Man Records, which is a deal with Warner Music Group . The label was launched in August 2015 alongside its accompanying YouTube channel. Jamie Lawson ,
2522-554: Is featured in the end credits of the film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug , the film's soundtrack , and on the deluxe version of his second album. Sheeran was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2014 Grammy Awards . On 24 March 2014, Sheeran performed at the Teenage Cancer Trust charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London where he unveiled "Take It Back", a track that would appear on
2619-411: Is one of the reasons I started writing songs, and was such a pleasure to work with him." In December 2017, Sheeran appeared on BBC Radio 1 's Live Lounge , performing his song "Perfect" and a duet of The Pogues ' festive classic " Fairytale of New York " with Anne-Marie . On 3 January 2018, "Shape of You" was named the best-selling single of 2017 in the UK, and the best-selling single of 2017 on
2716-518: Is struggling in these strange times". Sheeran's charity, the Framlingham Foundation Trust, is reported to have donated money to give a primary school teacher to take an imperative course to help children create songs with untraditional instruments which will benefit children with learning difficulties. Sheeran made his acting debut in 2014, a cameo role as himself on New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street , filmed while he
2813-572: Is the fastest-selling album by a male solo artist in the UK, and third fastest in UK chart history behind 25 by Adele and Be Here Now by Oasis . It had the biggest first-week sales of 2017 in the US, until it was surpassed by Taylor Swift's Reputation . On 6 January, Sheeran released two singles, " Shape of You " and " Castle on the Hill "; the theme of the latter single Sheeran's upbringing in his home town of Framlingham in Suffolk, with
2910-414: The 2016 ceremony : Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance . In May 2016, × was named the second-best-selling album worldwide in 2015, behind 25 by Adele . On 13 December 2016, after a year long hiatus and social media break, Sheeran tweeted a picture and changed his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to a light blue, implying the release of a new album—each of Sheeran's previous albums were
3007-709: The Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The same day, ÷ was named the best-selling album of 2017 in the UK, and the US. As the best-selling artist worldwide for 2017, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) named him the Global Recording Artist of the Year . At the 2018 Brit Awards held at the O 2 Arena in London on 21 February, Sheeran performed " Supermarket Flowers ", and received
American Town - Misplaced Pages Continue
3104-535: The Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act . Sheeran's second studio album, × (" Multiply "), topped charts around the world upon its release in June 2014. It was named the second-best-selling album worldwide of 2015. In the same year, × won Album of the Year at the 2015 Brit Awards , and he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year from
3201-535: The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors . A single from × , " Thinking Out Loud ", earned him the 2016 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance . Sheeran's third album, ÷ (" Divide "), was released in March 2017, and was the best-selling album worldwide of 2017 . The first two singles from the album, " Shape of You " and " Castle on the Hill ", broke records in
3298-563: The British Phonographic Industry , denoting shipments of 1.8 million copies. As of March 2012, the album had sold 1,021,072 copies in the UK. The album also reached the top five in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the US. The song, " Moments ", on the debut album by boy band One Direction , released in November 2011, was co-written by Sheeran. At the 2012 Brit Awards on 21 February, Sheeran won
3395-613: The German Single Charts . On 15 January, the songs debuted at number one and number two on the ARIA Singles Chart , the first time this has been achieved in the history of the Australian chart. On 17 January, "Shape of You" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 , while "Castle on the Hill" entered at number six; this made Sheeran the first artist ever to have two songs simultaneously debut in
3492-593: The National Youth Theatre in London, Sheeran's acting roles include appearing in the 2019 film Yesterday , playing himself. Edward Christopher Sheeran was born on 17 February 1991 in Halifax, West Yorkshire , England. His early childhood home was on Birchcliffe Road in nearby Hebden Bridge . His father was a curator at Cartwright Hall in Bradford , and his mother worked at Manchester City Art Gallery . In December 1995, he moved with his family from Hebden Bridge to Framlingham in Suffolk , where he attended
3589-470: The UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart , topped the charts in Australia, Canada and Germany among others, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. His eleventh week at number one in the UK saw him become the first British solo artist to notch up 52 weeks at Number 1 across his catalogue, with only Elvis Presley (80 weeks) and The Beatles (69 weeks) achieving more weeks at
3686-444: The UK Singles Chart following the release of its remix. Sheeran and Stormzy previously performed together at the 2017 Brit Awards . "Take Me Back to London" was announced as part of the tracklist for No.6 Collaborations Project (2019). "Take Me Back to London" is a grime song. According to HotNewHipHop' s Aron A., Sheeran "shows off his bars on the record while swapping verses with Stormzy". The song sees Sheeran "brag" about
3783-533: The castle referring to Framlingham Castle . Following the release of these singles, Sheeran co-hosted the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Scott Mills where it was implied that he would possibly make an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2017. It was also during this show that Sheeran used a new Martin guitar that featured the ÷ logo (of his new album) on both the headstock and body of
3880-556: The iTunes chart without any promotion or label, selling over 7,000 copies in the first week. Three months later, Sheeran put on a free show to fans at the Barfly in Camden Town . Over 1,000 fans turned up, so Sheeran played four different shows to ensure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Later that month, Sheeran was signed to Asylum Records . On 26 April 2011, Sheeran appeared on
3977-464: The BBC music show Later... with Jools Holland , where he performed his debut single "The A Team". Six weeks later, "The A Team" was released as a digital download in the UK. The release served as the lead single from Sheeran's debut studio album, + ("Plus"). "The A Team" entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, selling over 58,000 copies in the first week. It was the best-selling debut single and
American Town - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-603: The Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist , and British Breakthrough Act of the Year. On 10 January 2012, it was announced that Sheeran would support Snow Patrol on their US tour from late March until May. His song, " Give Me Love ", was featured in the episode " Dangerous Liaisons " of The Vampire Diaries . At the Ivor Novello Awards in May 2012, Sheeran's "The A Team" bested Adele 's " Rolling in
4171-542: The DVD Jumpers for Goalposts: Live at Wembley Stadium ; the title is a nod to playing concerts at Wembley Stadium, the home of English football . In 2015, Sheeran wrote " Love Yourself " for Justin Bieber 's fourth album. Sheeran had initially planned to put the song on his third album ÷ and added that the track would have been scrapped before Bieber took the song. In August 2015, he sang along with Macklemore on
4268-728: The Deep " and Florence and the Machine 's " Shake It Out " for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Sheeran performed "The A Team" at the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II concert held on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012 and a cover of Pink Floyd 's " Wish You Were Here " at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on 12 August 2012. Taylor Swift contacted Sheeran after hearing his music while touring Australia in March 2012. He later co-wrote and provided vocals for " Everything Has Changed ",
4365-896: The Global Success Award from Elton John and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood . Sheeran played to over 950,000 people in Australia and New Zealand in March and April, making it the biggest concert tour in Australasian music history, overtaking the previous record set by Dire Straits in 1986. In April, the IFPI named ÷ the best-selling album worldwide of 2017. At the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on 20 May, Sheeran performed " Galway Girl " from Phoenix Park in Dublin , Ireland, and picked up six awards, including Top Artist and Top Hot 100 Artist . In 2018 Sheeran wrote songs for boy bands. " Trust Fund Baby ", by Why Don't We ,
4462-838: The ITV series Britannia High . He also opened for Nizlopi in Norwich in April 2008, after being one of their guitar technicians. In the autumn of 2009, Sheeran began studying music at the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in Guildford , Surrey as an undergraduate at the age of 18, but left without permission in the same year to support hip-hop artist Just Jack . He released another EP in 2009, You Need Me , and also collaborated several times with Essex singer Leddra Chapman , including CeeLo Green 's " Fuck You ". In February 2010, Sheeran posted
4559-500: The Official Chart Company's chart of the decade with three songs inside the top 5—" Shape of You " was named number one. His four albums spent a combined 41 weeks at number one in the UK, the most weeks at number one in the 2010s , and five weeks more than Adele in second. He had the third and fourth best-selling album of the 2010s in the UK, with only Adele's two albums selling more. Globally, Spotify named him
4656-620: The St Elizabeth Hospice charity shop in his home town Framlingham, including eight bags of clothes to the shop in February 2014. In 2016, he donated 13 bags of clothes to the shop. The tartan shirt worn by Sheeran when he met Renee Zellweger's character, Bridget, in Bridget Jones's Baby , was auctioned online to raise further funds for the hospice. On 15 November 2014, Sheeran joined the charity supergroup Band Aid 30 along with other British and Irish pop acts, recording
4753-635: The UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. To support the album, Sheeran embarked on a world tour starting on 6 August 2014 at Osaka , Japan. On 27 September 2014, Sheeran was one of the headline acts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground prior to the 2014 AFL Grand Final . Following " Don't ", " Thinking Out Loud " was released on 24 September 2014 as the album's third single. Unlike his previous music videos, Sheeran took
4850-550: The UK Singles Chart on 10 December, it was Sheeran's 12th hit single. On 23 December, Sheeran featured on the remix of Fireboy DML 's song " Peru ". On 11 February 2022, Sheeran released a duet version of " The Joker and the Queen " featuring Taylor Swift . On 4 March, he featured in " Bam Bam ", collaborating for the second time with Camila Cabello . Later that month he collaborated with Colombian singer J Balvin in
4947-451: The UK and Australia, and a stripped-down acoustic version of the song titled "Perfect Duet", a collaboration with Beyoncé , reached number one in the US and the UK, becoming the year's UK Christmas number one . On 7 November, Taylor Swift revealed that Sheeran collaborated on the song " End Game " for her sixth studio album Reputation . The song, which also features rapper Future , was released on 10 November. On 4 December, Sheeran
SECTION 50
#17327718142065044-577: The UK on 28 September. Sheeran co-hosted the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards on 25 October in Milan , Italy. He won the awards for Best Live Act and Best Live Stage; the latter was in recognition for his performance at the 2014 V Festival in England. Sheeran won the Breakthrough award at the 2015 Billboard Touring Awards . His single from × , "Thinking Out Loud", earned him two Grammy Awards at
5141-503: The UK, Australia and other markets, and number two in the US. On 31 May, " Cross Me " featuring Chance the Rapper and PnB Rock , debuted at number 9 in the UK. Released on 28 June 2019, " Beautiful People " featuring Khalid debuted at number 3 in the UK and number 4 in Australia. On 5 July, Sheeran released two new songs, " Best Part of Me " featuring Yebba , and " Blow " with Bruno Mars and Chris Stapleton . On 12 July, he released
5238-430: The UK, peaking at number nine. Sheeran released + on 12 September 2011. The album received generally favourable reviews from music critics and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart for sales of 102,000 copies. By end of 2011, sales of the album in the UK stood at 791,000; it became the second-best-selling debut album and the ninth-biggest-selling album there. The album has been certified platinum six times by
5335-522: The UK, where it became the Christmas number one in 2017. The world's best-selling artist of 2017, he was named the Global Recording Artist of the Year . Released in 2019, his fourth overall and first collaborative album, No.6 Collaborations Project , debuted at number one in most major markets, and spawned three UK number one singles, " I Don't Care ", " Beautiful People ", and " Take Me Back to London ". His fifth studio album, = (" Equals "), topped
5432-557: The US top 10. The team behind TLC 's song " No Scrubs " were given writing credits on "Shape of You" after fans and critics found similarities between elements of the two songs. On 26 January, Sheeran announced dates for the beginning of the Divide Tour with shows in Europe, South America and North America from 17 March until 14 June 2017. On 17 February, Sheeran released " How Would You Feel (Paean) ". Though not an official single,
5529-509: The US, and two of his albums are in the list of the best-selling albums in UK chart history . In December 2019, the Official Charts Company named him artist of the decade, with the most combined success in the UK album and singles charts in the 2010s. As of July 2024, he is the 3rd most followed artist on Spotify . Beginning in March 2017, his ÷ Tour became the highest-grossing of all time in August 2019. An alumnus of
5626-509: The United Kingdom, where it debuted at number three and later reached number one on the UK Singles Chart , becoming the third single from No.6 Collaborations Project to reach the summit of the chart. It was Sheeran's eighth and Stormzy's second number one in the UK. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. " Take Me Back to London ( Sir Spyro Remix) ", featuring English rappers Stormzy, Jaykae and Aitch
5723-460: The Year for × at the 2015 Brit Awards . On 21 May he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year. On 21 June, Sheeran co-hosted the 2015 Much Music Video Awards in Toronto, where he performed the singles, "Thinking Out Loud" and " Photograph "; he also won two awards, Best International Artist and Most Buzzworthy International Artist or Group. On 27 June, Sheeran performed as
5820-452: The acoustic guitar. Both singles went on to break the Spotify day one streaming record, with a combined total of over 13 million streams in 24 hours. On 13 January, "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill" entered the UK Singles Chart at number one and number two, the first time in history an artist has taken the top two UK chart positions with new songs. The same day he also became the first artist to debut at number one and number two on
5917-426: The album release. By early June 2014, "Sing" had earned Sheeran his first number-one single in the UK. Sheeran's second studio album, × ("Multiply"), was released worldwide on 23 June 2014. Spanning three years, Sheeran wrote more than 120 songs for the album. The album features tracks produced by Rick Rubin , Pharrell Williams and Benny Blanco , as well as that of Gosling's. × peaked at number one in both
SECTION 60
#17327718142066014-401: The album, along with " Antisocial " with Travis Scott . The album debuted at number one in the UK, the US, Australia and other markets. On 26 August, Sheeran wrapped up the 260-show Divide Tour with the last of four homecoming gigs in Ipswich , Suffolk; the tour included, for example, his performance for over 100,000 people at Malmi Airport in Helsinki , Finland on 24 July. On 30 August,
6111-403: The album. The second single peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart. " Lego House " was released as the third single, reaching the top ten on the Australian, Irish and New Zealand Singles Charts. The music video for "Lego House" features actor Rupert Grint , as a play on their similar appearance. " Drunk ", released on 19 February 2012, became Sheeran's fourth consecutive top-ten single in
6208-407: The artwork of =. On 29 September, Sheeran released the single " Celestial ", a collaboration with Japanese media franchise Pokémon . In November, "Shivers" became Sheeran's 11th song to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify . He celebrated via an Instagram post, saying that he was currently filming a music video for his next album, scheduled to be released the following year. Sheeran was spotted at
6305-704: The campaign, with the proceeds used to help people in the country struggling to keep their home warm in winter. Sheeran teamed up with the cast of the BBC3 mockumentary sitcom People Just Do Nothing to perform a charity single for the BBC's biennial telethon Comic Relief which aired in March 2017. He appeared in a November 2017 episode of Gogglebox along with other UK celebrities such as Ozzy Osbourne , former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher , and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as part of Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK 's Stand Up to Cancer fundraising campaign. In December 2019, he launched his own music foundation, Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation (ESSMF). In
6402-409: The charts in most major markets in 2021. His sixth album, - (" Subtract "), was released on 5 May 2023, while his seventh album, Autumn Variations , was released on 29 September 2023 under his own record label, Gingerbread Man Records. Sheeran has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists . He has 119 million RIAA -certified units in
6499-430: The deluxe version of the second album. " Sing ", the lead single, was released on 7 April 2014. Sonically, the song is a departure from Sheeran's previous recordings. "Sing" was intended to create hype over the album release, but from concern that this might alienate Sheeran's fan base, " One ", an acoustic ballad, was released on 16 May 2014; "One" also marked the first of several promotional singles released leading to
6596-421: The first and only time his art has been made available for sale, which he titled "Dab 2 2020", to the same auction. Later that month, Sheeran backed footballer Marcus Rashford 's free school meals campaign and opened his own breakfast club at his Notting Hill restaurant, Bertie Blossoms. He announced on his Instagram that he provided hot breakfasts for "anyone who is normally entitled to a free school meal or who
6693-501: The gross of his ÷ Tour . Time ' s Raisa Bruner wrote that the trap beat on "Take Me Back to London" gets "Sheeran’s melodic touch, with Stormzy jumping in from the start to boost the energy with his signature vibrancy". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times wrote that Stormzy "does an admirable job of rapping ferociously but politely enough to not upstage the host", criticising the line "It’s that time, big Mike and Teddy are on grime". "Take Me Back to London" achieved success in
6790-426: The independent Brandeston Hall preparatory school (now Framlingham College Prep School), then Thomas Mills High School , also in Framlingham. He has an older brother named Matthew, who works as a composer. Sheeran's parents, John and Imogen, are from London. His father is Irish, and Sheeran has stated that his father is from a "very large" Catholic family. John is an art curator and lecturer, and Imogen
6887-405: The influence of Clapton, Sheeran states, "He's the reason I started playing guitar". He singled out Clapton's performance at the Party at the Palace in the grounds of Buckingham Palace , "I was eleven when I saw Eric Clapton play at the Queen's Golden Jubilee concert in June 2002. I remember him walking on stage with this rainbow-coloured Stratocaster and playing the first riff of ' Layla '. I
6984-425: The label's first signee, met Sheeran while they were both in London's folk circuit. Lawson released his self-titled debut album on 9 October 2015, which has earned him a number one in the UK Albums Chart. Sheeran signed his second artist, Foy Vance , in November 2015. Maisie Peters also signed with the label in 2021. On 29 September 2019, Sheeran announced he was teaming up with his manager Stuart Camp to open
7081-551: The latest version of the track " Do They Know It's Christmas? " at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill , London, to raise money for the West African Ebola virus epidemic . In November 2015, Sheeran supported the No Cold Homes campaign by the UK charity, Turn2us . Sheeran was one of nearly thirty celebrities, which included Helen Mirren , Jeremy Irons and Hugh Laurie , to donate items of winter clothing to
7178-470: The lead role in the single's accompaniment, where he performed a ballroom dance. It became his second single to reach number one in the UK, and it also spent eight weeks at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 (with only " Uptown Funk " by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars keeping it from top spot). In 2014, combined streams on Sheeran's catalogue in Spotify reached 860 million; Spotify named him
7275-414: The medieval drama The Bastard Executioner on FX . Sheeran also appeared as himself in the 2016 film Bridget Jones's Baby in a scene where Bridget Jones , played by Renée Zellweger , encounters the singer at the Glastonbury Festival . In July 2017, Sheeran appeared in a scene on Game of Thrones opposite Maisie Williams , who plays Arya Stark . David Benioff explained that since Williams
7372-428: The most-streamed artist and × the most-streamed album. In the same year, the album made Sheeran iTunes ' best-selling artist in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand. × was nominated for Album of the Year at the 57th Grammy Awards . Sheeran performed "Thinking Out Loud" alongside John Mayer , Questlove and Herbie Hancock at the ceremony. On 25 February, Sheeran won British Male Solo Artist and British Album of
7469-534: The opening act for The Rolling Stones in their Zip Code Tour date in Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium . On 10–12 July 2015, Sheeran performed sold-out shows at London's Wembley Stadium . The shows, which were announced in November 2014, were part of his world tour. The concert was documented and aired on 16 August 2015 on NBC ; the one-hour special Ed Sheeran – Live at Wembley Stadium also included behind-the-scenes footage. In November 2015 Sheeran released
7566-425: The opening act for Swift's The Red Tour . According to Sheeran, it was then his biggest tour, and he added a scarlet RED tattoo to commemorate it. In October 2013, Sheeran headlined three sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden . At the concert, Sheeran debuted new songs, including " Tenerife Sea ", a future track on his second studio album. Sheeran released " I See Fire " on 5 November 2013. The song
7663-528: The overall eighth-best selling single of 2011, selling 801,000 copies. The lead single also became a top ten hit in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands. During a headline set in the BBC Introducing tent at Glastonbury Festival 2011 , Sheeran announced that " You Need Me, I Don't Need You " would be released on 26 August as the second single from
7760-462: The records of Joni Mitchell , Bob Dylan and Elton John 's Greatest Hits . According to Sheeran, the album that introduced him to music was Van Morrison 's Irish Heartbeat . During his childhood his father took him to live concerts that would inspire his musical creations. These included seeing Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall , Paul McCartney in Birmingham , and Bob Dylan. On
7857-408: The second most streamed artist of the decade behind Drake . On 21 December 2020, after being on hiatus after having his first child with Cherry Seaborn in August, he released the surprise single, " Afterglow ". On 25 June 2021, Sheeran released " Bad Habits ", the lead single from his upcoming fifth studio album. His 10th UK number one single, the song spent eleven consecutive weeks at the top of
7954-421: The seventh single from the album, " Take Me Back to London " featuring Stormzy , reached number one in the UK. In 2019, Sheeran co-wrote country music singer Kenny Chesney 's single " Tip of My Tongue ". In December 2019, Sheeran was named artist of the decade by the Official Charts Company for being the most successful performer in the UK album and singles charts of the 2010s. Eight of his songs featured in
8051-684: The singles " Sigue " and " Forever My Love ". Sheeran commenced his +–=÷x Tour (Mathematics Tour) on 21 March. He played warm-up shows at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town, London before the main tour began with two concerts at Croke Park in Dublin. On 22 April, Sheeran released the fifth single from = , " 2step " featuring Lil Baby , before releasing a version of the song featuring Ukrainian pop-rock band Antytila . 2022 also saw Sheeran venture into heavier styles of music, releasing
8148-518: The song peaked at number two in the UK. By 11 March 2017, Sheeran had accumulated ten top-10 singles from ÷ on the UK Singles Chart, breaking Scottish DJ Calvin Harris 's record of nine top-10 singles from one album. On 25 June, Sheeran headlined the final night of Glastonbury , performing in front of 135,000 people. At the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards Sheeran was named Artist of the Year. The fourth single from ÷ , " Perfect ", reached number one in
8245-442: The statement, Sheeran stated it will help artists aged under 18 with "small but hopefully useful grants". In May 2020, Sheeran donated £170,000 to his former school Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, Suffolk. The donations, which have been made over a two-year period via the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation, helped the school to purchase items such as MacBooks, cameras and a photography darkroom. The same month, Sheeran made
8342-423: The summit. On 19 August, Sheeran announced that his fifth studio album, = ("Equals"), would be released on 29 October 2021. The cover was painted by him during the first COVID-19 lockdown , and is based on the changes his life had during the last four years, including marriage, having a child and losing friends. The promotional single " Visiting Hours " was released alongside the announcement. On 9 September, he
8439-572: The track "Growing Up". On 26 September, Sheeran performed at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park 's Great Lawn in New York, an event organised by Coldplay lead singer, Chris Martin , that advocates an end to extreme global poverty. Sheeran headlined the festival along with Beyoncé , Coldplay and Pearl Jam . The festival was broadcast on NBC in the US on 27 September and the BBC in
8536-445: Was a big fan of the singer, they wanted to have Sheeran appear on the show to surprise Williams, and that they had tried to get him on for years. It received a mix of positive and very negative reviews. In June 2019, Sheeran made his debut appearance in an advertisement for Heinz Tomato Ketchup . A lifelong fan of the product—he has it with everything from fish and chips to his morning sausage "butty" to upmarket dinners, carries
8633-600: Was able to meet him, and he was unbelievably cool. I went straight home and started writing songs. I would not be doing what I'm doing now if he'd been a jerk." He also played the guitar to Westlife 's Greatest Hits album when he was ten, citing them as one of his influences. Sheeran collaborated with his idol Eric Clapton in April 2016, with Sheeran stating to People magazine, "I sang on Eric Clapton's album I Still Do . It's one thing having him on mine, but being on his, that's an honour that you can't ever pinpoint on how great that is. I did something for his record, and I
8730-474: Was credited as 'Angelo Mysterioso', appearing as a guest on Clapton's 'I Will Be There', in addition to performing the song with Clapton on stage, and he did something for my record performing a guitar solo on ' Dive ' on Sheeran's album ÷ and was credited as 'Angelo Mysterioso'." Sheeran also cited Taylor Swift as one of his influences, suggesting in 2015 their respective success drives each other on. In 2024, Ed Sheeran also confirmed punk band The Offspring
8827-401: Was hooked. Two days later I bought a black Stratocaster copy for £30 that came with an amp . All I did for the next month was try to play that 'Layla' riff." In a complicated world, Sheeran's musical modus operandi is straightforward; to create well-crafted, expertly vague songs that unite people. His songs are vessels broad enough to soundtrack both a first dance and a funeral procession,
8924-478: Was in the country for a one-off performance. In May 2015, he appeared as himself and performed on a live episode of the NBC sitcom Undateable . Later that year, while in Australia, he recorded scenes for the soap Home and Away , as a character based on himself. After recording a cover version of Foy Vance 's " Make It Rain " for Sons of Anarchy , Sheeran was cast by creator Kurt Sutter to play Sir Cormac in
9021-424: Was named Spotify's most-streamed artist of 2017 with 6.3 billion streams. He has Spotify's biggest album of the year with ÷ streamed 3.1 billion times, and the top song with "Shape of You" with 1.4 billion streams. On 5 December 2017, hip-hop artist Eminem announced that Sheeran had collaborated on the song " River " for his ninth studio album Revival . On working with Eminem, Sheeran stated, "He
9118-486: Was part of the 2021 Kickoff Experience ahead of the American NFL season opening game. Released on 10 September, " Shivers " dethroned "Bad Habits" at the top of the UK and Irish singles charts. Topping the charts in most major markets, = became his fifth UK number-one album, and fourth US number one. On 29 November 2021, Sheeran and Elton John released " Merry Christmas ", a duet single for charity. Inspired by
9215-475: Was released as a single on 23 August 2019. A music video for the Sir Spyro remix was shot between Manchester , Birmingham and London by director KC Locke. It opens with images of Sheeran and Stormzy ripping up the countryside in a Rolls-Royce Cullinan while wearing matching tracksuits and getting measured for bespoke suits. They're soon joined by Jaykae and Aitch to watch some motorcycle burnouts and along
9312-427: Was released on 1 February 2018, and "Summer On You", by PrettyMuch , was released on 21 June 2018. On 10 May 2019, Sheeran released the single " I Don't Care ", a duet with Justin Bieber , from his fourth studio album No.6 Collaborations Project . On Spotify , "I Don't Care" debuted with 10.977 million daily global streams, breaking the platform's single-day streaming record . The song debuted at number one in
9409-470: Was released on 5 May 2023. In August 2023, Sheeran announced his second album of the year, Autumn Variations , released on 29 September 2023. It is his first studio album for which he owns the copyright, and also his first to be released through Gingerbread Man Records . Sheeran's musical style has been described as pop , folk-pop , and soft rock . Sheeran also incorporates rap into his music. Sheeran's earliest memories include listening to
#205794