Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran MBE (/ˈʃɪərən/ SHEER-ən; born 17 February 1991) 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.
Ed Sheeran
- Singer-songwriter
- musician
- record producer
- actor
2004–present
2
- Vocals
- guitar[1]
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 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 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 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 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 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.[2] He has 101 million RIAA-certified units in the US,[3] 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.[4] As of April 2022, he is the most followed artist on Spotify.[5] Beginning in March 2017, his ÷ Tour became the highest-grossing of all time in August 2019. An alumnus of the National Youth Theatre in London, Sheeran's acting roles include appearing in the 2019 film Yesterday, playing himself.
Other ventures
Gingerbread Man Records
In March 2015, Sheeran announced he was setting up a record label, Gingerbread Man Records, which is a deal with Warner Music Group.[221] The label was launched in August 2015 alongside its accompanying YouTube channel.[222] Jamie Lawson, the label's first signee, met Sheeran while they were both in London's folk circuit.[223] Lawson released his self-titled debut album on 9 October 2015, which has earned him a number one in the UK Albums Chart.[224] Sheeran signed his second artist, Foy Vance, in November 2015.[225] Maisie Peters also signed with the label in 2021.[226]
Bertie Blossoms
On 29 September 2019, Sheeran announced he was teaming up with his manager Stuart Camp to open a bar located on Portobello Road in Notting Hill. The bar is called "Bertie Blossoms", and named after his wife Cherry Seaborn.[227]
Charity work
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 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.[228]
Legal issues
Sheeran has faced accusations of plagiarism with regards to chord progression and other elements of his music. However, tort actions which have reached a jury have all been decided decisively in Sheeran's favour.
In 2017, Sheeran settled out of court over claims his song "Photograph" was a "note-for-note" copy of the chorus in the song "Amazing" by X Factor UK winner Matt Cardle.[307] Sheeran later regretted the decision to settle, saying that it was done on the advice of his lawyers who thought the case was "more trouble than it was worth."[308] He said he regretted settling the claim not because of the money involved, but because it changed his relationship with the song. He said: "I didn't play 'Photograph' for ages after that. I just stopped playing it. I felt weird about it, it kind of made me feel dirty." He also thought that settling the case opened a floodgate of claims, including the "Shape of You" lawsuit.[309]
In 2018, legal action was brought against Sheeran, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Atlantic Records by the estate and heirs of the late producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the song "Let's Get It On" with Marvin Gaye. US District Judge Louis Stanton rejected Sheeran's call in 2019 for dismissal of a legal case accusing him of copying parts of the song in "Thinking Out Loud". Stanton said that a jury should decide but that he found "substantial similarities between several of the two works' musical elements".[310] A previous case by Townsend's estate was dismissed without prejudice in February 2017.[311]
The case, closely followed by those in music and legal circles, went to trial on in New York in April 2023. Sheeran's lawyers argued that while the two songs have similar "building blocks" and a specific chord progression, such features are true for many pop songs, and the jury found in favour of Sheeran with a unanimous verdict.[312] After winning the trial, Sheeran said: "These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will be used to create music long after we are all gone."[313]
Sheeran was taken also to court in March 2022 for a copyright lawsuit over "Shape of You". Musicians Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue alleged that the song infringed "particular lines and phrases" of their 2015 composition "Oh Why".[314] Sheeran won the case, with Mr Justice Zacaroli ruling he "neither deliberately nor subconsciously" copied a phrase from "Oh Why" when writing "Shape of You".[315][316]
Political views
Sheeran publicly opposed Brexit (the United Kingdom leaving the European Union), and supported "remain". Following the June 2016 referendum result where the British public voted to leave, Sheeran was among a group of British musicians (which included Sting, Queen drummer Roger Taylor, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz) who signed a letter to then Prime Minister Theresa May, drafted by Bob Geldof in October 2018, calling for "a 2nd vote". Stating that Brexit will "impact every aspect of the music industry. From touring to sales, to copyright legislation to royalty collation", the letter adds: "We dominate the market and our bands, singers, musicians, writers, producers and engineers work all over Europe and the world and in turn, Europe and the world come to us. Why? Because we are brilliant at it ... [Our music] reaches out, all inclusive, and embraces anyone and everyone. And that truly is what Britain is."[317]
In 2017, Sheeran publicly endorsed the Labour Party and then-leader Jeremy Corbyn, while adding that "I'm not Mr Political. I vote the way I feel I should, but won't tell somebody else what to do."[318]
In 2021, Sheeran, along with several other celebrities, urged the United States Congress to pass the proposed Equality Act, which would expand the Civil Rights Act in order to outlaw discrimination against LGBT people. Sheeran stated in the open letter that the Act is "essential to protect [...] the most marginalized communities."[319]
In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sheeran expressed support for Ukraine and participated in the Concert for Ukraine held at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.[320]
