Photograph (Ed Sheeran song)

"Photograph" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran for his second studio album, x (2014). Sheeran co-wrote the song with Snow Patrol member Johnny McDaid.

"Photograph" served as the fifth and final single from the album. It reached the top five on the main singles charts in more than five countries. In the US, where it peaked at number ten, "Photograph" became the third single from the album to have reached within the top ten. In the UK, it reached number 15 and has since been certified platinum for sales of 600,000 units. The single has also been certified double platinum in Australia and Canada, and platinum in New Zealand. 

The single's release on 11 May 2015 followed the premiere of the music video on 9 May 2015.

Background
Ed Sheeran wrote "Photograph" in May 2012 with Johnny McDaid, musician and background singer of the Irish band Snow Patrol. Sheeran toured with the band as a support act in some North American dates. McDaid had a three-note piano loop that became the basis of "Photograph". The song was created when Sheeran, while in a hotel room in Kansas City, was humming "loving can hurt, loving can hurt" to the loop that was playing on McDaid's laptop. Sheeran said: "I started humming, and then [McDaid] put a beat behind it."

Lawsuit
On 9 June 2016, it was reported that Sheeran was being sued by songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, writers of Matt Cardle's 2011 single "Amazing", for $20 million for copyright infringement. The lawsuit says: "Given the striking similarity between the chorus of Amazing and Photograph, (the) defendants knew when writing, publishing, recording, releasing, and distributing Photograph that they were infringing on a pre-existing musical composition." The lawsuit was privately settled in April 2017. 

In March 2022, while in court for a separate lawsuit over his song "Shape of You", Sheeran said that he settled the "Photograph" complaint on the advice of his lawyers, as the case was "more trouble than it was worth".

References

Category:2015 songs
Category:Ed Sheeran songs