Ed Sheeran Is Looking To ‘Transition Into Country’ Music
Ed Sheeran attends the Disney+ "Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All" New York screening at The Times Center on May 02, 2023 in New York City.
Ed Sheeran may be saying goodbye to Top 40 music and looking to country. The English singer-songwriter revealed on Tuesday (May 9) that he wants to change up his sound. Sheeran, 32, told Billboard that he talks about it with his wife “all the time.”
“I would love to transition into country,” the “Thinking Out Loud” singer said. “I love the culture of it, I just love the songwriting. It’s just like, brilliant songs.” Ed transitioning into country music may actually not be as big as a surprise as you might think. He is a major fan of the genre and has even lived in Nashville twice for extended periods of time in 2013 and 2018. While there, he found himself inspired by the local songwriters.
“It’s like a community. There’s not really a place in Europe where you could point and say, ‘That’s the home of songwriting,'” he said of the Music City. “It’s not just for country music. Nashville is just a hub of incredible songwriters, incredible performers. And I really felt inspired just being there being around everyone.”
He has his close friend Taylor Swift to thank for turning him on to country music. “I’d never really listened to country music as a kid growing up,” Sheeran said. “It was only being on Taylor’s Red tour and living in Nashville and her basically introducing me to that side of it.” Now that he’s a fan, he added he and his wife have found and listen to a country radio station in England that they have on “all day, every day in the kitchen.”
RELATED: Ed Sheeran Says Being Friends With Taylor Swift Is Like ‘Therapy’
As country music grows in popularity internationally, he predicts more artists will experience global success. “Luke Combs could probably play a stadium in England,” the singer-songwriter added. “I think if he put on Wembley [Stadium] next summer, he could sell it.”
Ed Sheeran is set to perform at tonight's ACM awards. Posting on their official Instagram page, the musician playfully asked, “Who said the Brits don’t have a little bit of country in them?”
Ed Sheeran’s 10 Best Lyrics That Warm (Or Break) Your Heart
Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran knows how to make some of the saddest lines upbeat. His lyricism is top-tier, accompanied by his acoustic guitar and infectious pop melodies, and the Brit often strikes musical gold. Born Edward Christopher Sheeran on February 17, 1991, in England, he developed an interest in music at a very young age. He sang at a local church choir at the age of four. As we previously reported, Sheeran developed a stutter after undergoing surgery to remove a birthmark in his early years. He was gifted Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers album as a kid by his uncle. The album helped him to grow out of it. When he was nine, his uncle told his dad his nephew would be “the next Bob Dylan.” After learning the 2000 record and “rapping it back, to back, to back, to back,” it cured his stutter.
Sheeran’s Rise To Stardom
Gaining more confidence, Sheeran learned how to play the guitar and started writing songs when he was eleven. Two years later, at thirteen, Sheeran began recording music. He independently released his first collection of work, titled Spinning Man. In 2008, he moved to London, playing music in small venues and on the street. That same year, he auditioned for the ITV series Britannia High. Since the show’s producers were looking for triple threats, Sheeran’s dance skills proved to be highly uncoordinated, so he got cut. He wasn’t too torn up about it, able to admit that everyone auditioning really wanted to be cast.
He released another EP in 2009, titled You Need Me. He and fellow English singer Leddra Chapman recorded covers with each other often, including CeeLo Green’s “F— You.” In 2010, Sheeran released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his future debut single, “The A-Team.”
With seven studio albums below his belt, see which of our favorite Ed Sheeran songs warms (or breaks) our hearts.
Laila Abuelhawa is the Top 40 and Hip-Hop pop culture writer for Beasley Media Group. Being with the company for over three years, Laila's fierce and fabulous red-carpet rankings have earned her a feature on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!' Her favorite stories are those surrounding the latest in celebrity fashion, television and film rankings, and how the world reacts to major celebrity news. With a background in journalism, Laila's stories ensure accuracy and offer background information on stars that you wouldn't have otherwise known. She prides herself in covering stories that inform the public about what is currently happening and what is to come in the ever-changing, ever-evolving media landscape.
