The young and talented Ed Sheeran has become Britain’s hottest pop star, which Ed Sheeran claims is all thanks to messy break up’s, strict parents and Elton John.
“Ed” Sheeran” Edward Christopher was born on the 17 February 1991, in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire and was raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. Raised a Roman Catholic, he started singing in a local church choir from the age of four and learned to play guitar at a very young age. He began composing songs during his time at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham.
Pseudo-rapper, part troubadour, Ed calls his own sound “acoustic soul.” His songs are populated by life, love and death, which are delivered with catchy rhythms and soothing melodies. He moved to London in 2008 and began playing in very small venues to pursue his musical career. He auditioned for the ITV series Britannia High. By February 2010 Ed posted a video through SB.TV and also released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his later debut single “The A Team”.
Later in April 2010, with no contacts other than one poetry night, Ed bought a ticket to Los Angeles and played open mic nights all over the city. This is where he was spotted by The Foxxhole – Jamie Foxx, who was so impressed with Ed that he offered him the use of his Hollywood home and his recording studio.
Throughout 2010, Ed’s popularity increased – his fan-base grew, he also received credits from England football captain Rio Ferdinand, The Independent newspaper and Elton John. Sheeran also self-released two other EPs in 2010, Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford and Songs I Wrote with Amy, which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with singer-songwriter Amy Wadge.
“I wanted raw, honest songs from the heart,” he says. “When you hear that Kesha-Pitbull song, you know it’s a hit, but it doesn’t make you want to cry or laugh or sit in a corner for five hours just repeating it.” – Ed Sheeran
In January 2011, he released an independent extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, which caught the attention of both Jamie Foxx and Elton John. With this release, he gained mainstream attention for reaching number 2 in the iTunes chart, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week, without any label or promotion.
A few months later, Ed held a free show for all his fans at the Barfly in Camden Town. An astonishing show of 1,000 fans turned up, so he held four different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig. Later that same month, ED was signed to Asylum/Atlantic Records. His inspirations came from life, love, death and viewing other people’s situations.
On the 26 April 2011, Ed appeared on the TV music show, Later. He performed his debut single “The A Team”, which entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, selling over 58,000 copies in the first week. It became the bestselling debut single and the overall eighth-best selling single of 2011 – selling 801,000 copies. It also hit the top ten hits in Australia, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Luxembourg, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
Ed Sheeran has sold millions of records, toured America with Taylor Swift in 2013 and cut most of his second album, X. He has since played the Grammys alongside his mentor Elton John, drank margaritas with Paul McCartney and played 66 shows with Swift, before selling out three nights at Madison Square Garden himself.
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