The last few days saw the announcement of Ed Sheeran coming to our islands for the first time.
This is part of his worldwide mathematics tour next year and we couldn’t be more excited.
If you somehow have no idea who he is, here is a timeline of what he has achieved in his career.
Edward Christopher Sheeran was born on February 17th 1991 in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
He was raised in a creative family in Framlingham, Suffolk.
Both his parents have arts careers whilst his brother is a composer.
Ed began practicing music at four when he sang at his local church and at 11, he learned how to play the guitar.
He also wrote songs during high school leading him to recording music in 2004.
Ed released Spinning Man, his first record that same year and a year later The Orange Room, an extended play with four tracks.
Ed moved to London in 2008 and his music career started to take shape.
He busked around the streets and performed at a number of small events.
In 2010, Ed recorded for British music media company SBTV founded by Jamal Edwards.
British musician and rapper Example invited Ed on his tour and it all led to Loose Change another independent EP that received acclaim.
The EP features his debut single The A Team and regularly appeared in the top ten worldwide.
Ed got international recognition and Jamie Foxx even invited him to perform at his club The Foxxhole.
During the process, he offered him a place to stay at his home.
8th January 2011 saw Ed release another extended play with No 5 Collaborations Project.
The EP featured many UK grime musicians and quickly got attention worldwide
It was the runner up on the iTunes charts and secured him a deal with Asylum Records within a month.
In September that same year, Ed released his debut album + reaching the top of the British Album Charts.
Since its release it has sold over a million copies and reached platinum status six times.
Sheeran scooped up his first awards in 2012.
He won “British Breakthrough Act” and “British Male Solo Artist” at the BRIT awards.
He also won “Best Song” for The A Team at the Ivor Novello Awards.
Throughout most of 2013, Ed teamed up with Taylor Swift as her opening act for her Red Tour in North America.
This led to his three headlined sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden.
He also revealed the Tenerife Sea and I See Fire, two songs for the second Hobbit installment.
In 2014, he released Sing as the lead single from his second studio album x.
The album also features one of his memorable hits Thinking Out Loud.
It was his second single to reach number one in the UK and has since garnered 3.6 billion Youtube views.
More awards followed in 2015 with album of the year and solo artist at the BRIT Awards alongside the Ivor Novello Songwriter of the Year award.
He also opened up a record label, Gingerbread Man Records and took a year-long break from social media shortly after.
Ed won his first two Grammys in 2016 for Thinking Out Loud.
Ed began 2017 with his third album ÷.
It was the fastest-selling album by a British solo artist in the country.
It was also the highest selling album in the UK and USA and Shape of You was the highlight single from ÷.
Prince Charles also awarded him an MBE later that year.
Two more Grammys followed in 2018 as his ceremonial wins kept increasing.
No 6 Collaborations Project his fourth album was released one year later.
It was an album dominated by collaborations with the likes of Bruno Mars and Khalid appearing.
After concluding his ÷ tour in his hometown of Ipswich in August 2019, he announced that he would temporarily retire.
A year later he and his wife Cherry Seaborn announced the birth of their first child, Lyra.
He returned with a bang in 2021 releasing Bad Habits his debut single from his fifth album =.
It hit a billion Spotify streams and he announced his ongoing Mathematics worldwide tour.
He also said that he will sponsor his favourite football club’s shirt Ipswich Town.
Collaborations with multiple artists continue and the same applies to awards.
He was the most played artist in 2021 by Phonographic Performance Limited.
This year has been another eventful and busy year for Ed.
He released his own hot sauce lineup titled Tingly Teds.
His four-part documentary The Sum of It All debuted on Disney+ focusing on the inspiration behind some of his biggest hits.
Finally, his sixth and seventh albums were released worldwide titled Subtract and Autumn Variations.
Autumn Variations is the first released under his label and a live version recorded in fans’ homes is scheduled for launch later this year.
Are you a fan of Ed Sheeran’s music?
And what is your favourite song he has released? DM us and let us know!
