Ed Sheeran

**Website** | www.edsheeran.com

**Edward Christopher** "**Ed**" **Sheeran** (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. He was born in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk.

In early 2011, Sheeran independently released an extended play titled *No. 5 Collaborations Project*, which caught the attention of singers Elton John and Jamie Foxx. Sheeran signed with Asylum Records and his debut album, *+* ("plus"), was released in 2011.

Sheeran co-wrote Liam Payne's debut solo single, "Strip That Down".

## Career

Sheeran's rise to fame began with the 2011 release of his debut album + (pronounced "plus") which reached #1 in six countries. He released five singles, "The A Team", "You Need Me, I Don't Need You", "Lego House" "Drunk", "Small Bump" and "Give Me Love". Of the five, "The A Team" and "Lego House" were top 5 hits in the UK and Australia, while the former peaked at #16 in the US.

Sheeran also found top 20 success in 2013 when he contributed "I See Fire" to The Hobbit's film soundtrack.

In 2014, Sheeran released his second album "x" (pronounced "multiply"), which spawned five hit singles - "Thinking Out Loud", "Sing", "Don't" "Photograph" and "Bloodstream". "Sing" became Sheeran's first #1 hit single, topping the charts in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. "Thinking Out Loud" was also a #1 hit in several countries, and peaked at #2 in the US. The song won Sheeran two Grammy Awards, and "x" became the most streamed album on Spotify in 2014. It was one of the best selling albums of all time in the United Kingdom and the first album to be certified Diamond in Australia, with over 500,000 copies sold. The success saw Sheeran playing three sell-out shows at 90,000 capacity in Wembley Stadium in 2015. His stadium concerts are notable in that Sheeran performs each show completely alone with no set, band or dancers, just his guitar and a loop pedal, which he uses to build each song in the moment.

On 1 January 2017, after a one year complete hiatus from all music and media presence, Sheeran announced he would return to music by releasing new material on 6 January. He confirmed his third album was titled "*÷" (divide).* Divide's release saw Sheeran become the fastest selling male artist in the United Kingdom. Five singles were released - "Shape of You", "Castle On The Hill", "Galway Girl", "Perfect" and "Happier" - several of which became the highest selling songs of 2017. "Shape" was declared the ninth best-selling single of all time by Billboard, and was the best selling song of 2017. "Castle" was released simultaneously with "Shape" and, as a result, debuted at #2 in most countries. After a strong response to the initial single release, "Perfect" was re-released as a duet between Sheeran and American singer Beyonce. The single reached #1 in 17 countries, was Sheeran's 10th million-selling single in the UK, and was the 7th best-selling song of 2017 in the US. It was also Beyonce's first US #1 single in 9 years (her sixth overall). Divide was the best-selling album worldwide in 2017. To promote the album, Sheeran embarked on the "*÷ tour",* his most extensive world tour yet, with 257 shows over two years. It was the highest grossing tour of 2018, with $429 million earned.

## Credits

### Liam Payne

*Untitled Liam Payne Album*

* "Strip That Down" - co-writing

## External Links

* @edsheeran - Twitter
* @teddysphotos - Instagram