Ed Sheeran is a young performer who captivated listeners with his romantic ballads. For the song "Thinking out loud" the artist was awarded the prestigious Grammy award. One of his most recent singles, "Perfect", is extremely popular with newlyweds for performing their wedding dance. Sheeran's compositions are gaining billions of views on the Internet, concerts are sold out, albums are breaking sales records. At the moment, he can be safely called one of the most popular singers in the world.
Biography: family and childhood
Edward Christopher Sheeran was born on February 17, 1991 into a creative family. His father is a lecturer and art curator, his mother was engaged in journalism, and then switched to jewelry design. Ed has an older brother, Matthew, who also linked his life with music and became a composer. The musician inherited the fiery red hair color from his paternal Irish ancestors.
Ed was born in the small town of Halifax, West Yorkshire. Very soon, the family moved to Suffolk County. The guy devoted all his free time to music. At first he sang in the church choir, where he got at the age of four. A little later he learned to play the piano and guitar, began to compose his own songs.
One of the brightest childhood experiences for Ed was family trips to concerts of famous musicians. He will forever remember the performances of Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Damien Rice, Eminem, Van Morrison.
Creation
Already at the age of 17, Ed Sheeran clearly knew that he wanted to connect his future life with music. He recorded his first songs in 2004 and independently released the compilation "Spinning Man". Then there were mini-albums "Ed Sheeran" (2006) and "Want some?" (2007). The musician actively promoted his work in the global network, for which in 2006 he opened his own channel on the YouTube service. In 2008 he moved to London.
At first, the lot of the young singer was the opening act for more famous performers. For example, in April 2008, Ed opened a concert for the duo Nizlopi, who were his childhood idols. He also collaborated with musician Just Jack, singer Leddra Chapman, rappers Example and CeeLo Green. During this time, Sheeran released two more mini-albums "You need me" (2009) and "Loose change" (2010). He managed to somehow combine his intense creative activity with his studies at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, where he entered in 2009.
The musician's first serious success was brought by the YouTube channel, where the number of his fans grew very quickly. The famous newspaper "The Independent" wrote about Ed Sheeran. He continues to release mini-albums, several compilations a year:
- Songs I Wrote with Amy (2010);
- Live at the Bedford (2010);
- "No. 5 Collaborations Project "(2011);
- One take (2011);
- ITunes Festival: London 2011 (2011).
In 2010 Ed Sheeran travels to the United States. At a performance in Los Angeles, he was noticed by the famous actor Jamie Foxx and invited to his radio show. Then there was the unprecedented success of the mini-album No. 5 Collaborations Project”, after which the singer signed a contract with the music label Asylim Records.
The singer called his first full-length album the sign of the mathematical operation "+". The album was released on September 12, 2011 and went platinum several times in terms of the number of copies sold. The album topped the charts in the UK, hitting the top five in the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand. The singer wrote his debut single "The A Team", being impressed by what he saw in a homeless shelter. In this song, Sheeran told a story about a girl who is involved in prostitution and suffers from drug addiction.
Ed considers a huge achievement in his career to perform at the closing of the XXX Olympic Games in London on August 12, 2012. Together with the idols of his childhood from the groups "Pink Floyd" and "Genesis", he sang the song "Wish you were here".
At the 2012 Brit Awards, the singer won the Breakthrough of the Year and Best British Singer nominations. In March 2012, Sheeran was contacted by singer Taylor Swift, who invited him on her North American tour. Later they recorded a joint song "Everithing is changed". Meanwhile, Ed's debut single won a Grammy nomination, and during the ceremony he was honored to perform on stage with Elton John.
Sheeran's second studio album, "x," released in June 2014, was again called a mathematical operation, this time multiplication. It includes the singles "One", "He", "Photograph", "Thinking out loud". For this disc in 2014-2016, the singer has collected a whole crop of awards at various music awards. And the track "Thinking out loud" took first place in the UK and brought Sheeran two Grammy awards in 2016 in the nominations "Best Song of the Year" and "Best Pop Solo Performance".
Then the musician took a short break in his career and on January 12, 2017 returned to the fans with a new album "÷", referring to the mathematical operation of division. The singles from this album "Shape of you", "Castle on the hill", "Perfect" literally exploded the world charts. Soon, the singer went on a big concert tour in Europe, Australia, South and North America. He also won two 2018 Grammy Awards for this album.
At the end of 2017, Ed Sheeran recorded a joint track "River" with another idol of his youth - rapper Eminem. As a songwriter, he has collaborated with Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, One direction.
Ed Sheeran managed to try his hand at cinema. Mostly he was invited to play himself or to participate in small episodes. Here are the projects in which you can see the young artist:
- Shortland Street (2014);
- Unsuitable for Dating (2015);
- Home and Away (2015);
- "Executioner-bastard" (2015);
- Gate Jumper (2015);
- Bridget Jones 3 (2016);
- Game of Thrones (2017).
Personal life
Despite the outward modesty, the singer has a loving character. In an interview, he repeatedly admitted that he pays attention to simple open girls who are indifferent to fame or red carpet. With his beloved, the musician is more willing to spend time in a regular bar with a glass of beer or playing billiards.
At school, Ed Sheeran had a long-term relationship with a classmate. In 2011, he began an affair with the Scottish singer Nina Nesbitt. In 2014, the singer introduced his new girlfriend, Athena Andrelos, an American with Greek roots, to the public. Young people broke up in the spring of 2015.
Then fate brought him together with one of Cherry Seaborn's former acquaintances. They went to the same school, only Cherry was a year younger. Sheeran dedicated the song “Perfect” to his beloved. It is worth noting that most of the singer's romantic compositions are associated with his ladies of the heart. After three years of romance, Ed and Cherry announced their engagement, and in August 2018 they talked about a secret wedding.
The singer loves cats, his favorites even have their own Instagram account. He also has a weakness for tattoos, fans have counted the artist more than 50 drawings. Ed adorned himself with rather unusual tattoos: a bottle of ketchup, a keyhole, a crossed out heart, a snowflake, construction kit details … The painting on his body looks more like children's art.
The musician also does not forget about charity. He helps medical and community organizations by performing at concerts or donating his personal belongings for auctions. At the end of 2017, the singer was awarded the Order of the British Empire, which was presented to him personally by Prince Charles.
