♫ 16 Exclusive Facts about Ed Sheeran ♫
Over the past decade, Ed Sheeran has become nothing short of a pop phenomenon – while he may be on a bit of a break at the time of writing, the record sales and accolades he has achieved over what has been a relatively short career so far are nothing short of incredible. What is it about his songs – and talent – that inspires so many people to add his work to their record collections?
Love or hate his music, Ed Sheeran is a name that’s been hard to ignore over the past few years! In these interesting facts about Ed Sheeran, we’re going to take a look at his meteoric rise to fame, as well as a few of the incredible records – non-musical ones! – that he’s broken over the years.
- Sheeran is the son of a jewellery designer and an art historian, and despite having been brought up in Suffolk, was actually born in Halifax in West Yorkshire.
- Sheeran started getting into music from a young age, having recorded his first collection of songs before his 15th birthday. Before he turned 18, Sheeran had already performed on stage hundreds of times – meaning he was certainly ready for the stadium scene by the time his fame went transatlantic.
- He released his first album, Plus (+) in 2011, scoring a UK number one and a top 5 smash in the US. It’s one of the biggest-selling albums of all time in the UK, having gone platinum a staggering seven times.
- Music is in the blood – his brother Matthew Sheeran is a classical composer!
- Sheeran is said to have started singing from at least the age of four, when he was part of a children’s choir growing up.
- He is a firm supporter of homeless charities, having raised thousands of pounds to help sex workers on the UK’s streets, while also making sure that people with homes – but who may not have enough money to keep warm in winter – benefit from enough clothing through the cold snap.
- He has sold out Madison Square Garden and Wembley Stadium on three separate occasions. It’s safe to say he’s something of a phenomenon!
- Ed Sheeran was a firm staple of the closing ceremony at the London 2012 Olympic Games. One Direction, who were also performing, benefited from several songs written by the star over the years.
- He’s performed all over the world to sell-out audiences, having played his album ‘x’ to fans almost 180 times across five different continents.
- Sheeran tends to write and perform songs based on actual experiences he has had, and on those people he has met during his life. For example, his first major hit – ‘The A Team’ – was written about a woman he met at a homeless shelter he once performed at.
- Sheeran owes much of his success to two very famous friends. One of them, singer Taylor Swift, gave him a taste of the international stadium scene by bringing Sheeran on as her opening act in 2012. Both have continued to court immense success ever since.
- Another famous friend who helped Sheeran get his big break is actor and singer Jamie Foxx. Sheeran actually lived with Foxx for a month and a half while trying to find his footing in America. Foxx would tout his friend to local clubs, which would help to spread the word about his music.
- He even has his own pizza named after him – well, a pizza cake, anyway. Pizza Express created the ‘Ed-Abrese’ pizza for his 26th birthday, made calabrese style.
- Both ‘x’ and ‘divide’ are Sheeran’s two biggest-selling albums, and both have firm places on the all-time top sellers top 50. Considering the pop charts have been running for almost 70 years, that’s nothing short of incredible.
- Ed Sheeran is an MBE – receiving the accolade in 2017 through the Queen’s Birthday Honors – just six years after launching his first album.
- Sheeran is perhaps just as well known for his quirky tattoos – one is simply the word ‘prince’, which he got thanks to his love of classic 90s TV show ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’! He’s also got a part of Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ tattooed.
Do you know any fun facts about Ed Sheeran? Share them in the comments below!
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1970s feminist icon songbird Helen Reddy is mostly known for her 1972 hit “I Am Woman” where she declares in the rousing call-and-response chorus.
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