Sheeran wrote "Tenerife Sea" while in Nashville, the capital of the US state of Tennessee. It was inspired by the events following the 2013 Grammy Awards, wherein his single "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year, a first Grammy nomination for Sheeran. He lost the award to the American band Fun for its song "We Are Young". Along with his girlfriend, Sheeran attended the after-party where he, being in a new experience, felt uninterested participating in the conversations. According to Sheeran, "neither of [them] wanted to be there – you just want to be with this one person". He also told "The San Francisco Examiner": "It was a very odd atmosphere, where everyone was out for themselves. And I found myself being competitive, as well, and pissed off that I didn’t win, which felt very unhealthy."