Ed Sheeran

With a knack for absorbing whatever musical influences come his way, Ed Sheeran shapes them into a distinctive voice marked by warmth, relatability, and worldwide reach. Traces of folk, hip-hop, pop, dance, soul, and rock surface across standout tracks such as "The A Team," "Sing," "Thinking Out Loud," and "Shape of You," broadening his audience across varied listener groups. This eclectic approach fueled rapid international recognition shortly after his first album + appeared in 2011, while also sending 2014’s x and 2017’s ÷ to the summit of both the U.K. albums chart and the Billboard 200. He sustained that prominence through well-chosen partnerships, evident in the 2019 album No. 6 Collaborations Project that gathered an array of contributors including Khalid, Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Justin Bieber, Chris Stapleton, and Bruno Mars, and through direct reflections on personal milestones, as heard throughout the 2021 set = and its songs centered on new fatherhood. Those explorations extended into the 2023 album -, which included multiple tracks jointly written and produced with Aaron Dessner of the National, and the promptly issued follow-up Autumn Variations, each securing Top Five positions in the U.K. and on the Billboard 200.

Ed Sheeran had just reached age twenty when + first appeared. Raised in Framlingham, Suffolk after an early move from his birthplace in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he had already spent years immersed in the classic rock records that filled his childhood home. Songwriting began in his early teens, leading to the self-produced collection Spinning Man at age thirteen in 2004. Alongside home recordings such as the 2005 EP The Orange Room, he performed on street corners and any available stage. At sixteen he left school behind and relocated to London in pursuit of a professional path, taking on guitar-tech duties for Nizlopi, playing gigs wherever possible, and trying out without success for the ITV series Britannia High. The independently released EP You Need Me surfaced in 2009, following the self-titled 2006 EP and 2007’s Want Some?, yet real traction developed in 2010 through Loose Change and Songs I Wrote with Amy plus widely viewed performance clips on YouTube. Growing attention drew Jamie Foxx to invite him onto his Sirius/XM program, culminating in a late-2010 signing with Asylum Records. After the final independent outing No. 5 Collaborations arrived in January 2011, he joined Elton John’s management roster.

Those steps prepared the ground for an active 2011. Entering the studio with Jake Gosling, Sheeran captured his major-label debut, whose opening single “The A Team” debuted at number three upon its June arrival. August brought “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” paving the way for + in September. Bolstered by the November single “Lego House,” the album achieved major U.K. success, confirmed when he claimed British Breakthrough at the 2012 Brit Awards. Momentum soon carried into Australia, Europe, Canada, and eventually the United States, aided by an opening slot with Snow Patrol in 2012 that was later eclipsed by joining Taylor Swift’s Red tour in 2013. Swift’s endorsement, paired with his contribution of “I See Fire” to the closing credits of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, positioned him for a pivotal 2014.

Reuniting with Jake Gosling while also working alongside Rick Rubin and Pharrell, Sheeran delivered x in June 2014. The set entered at number one on both sides of the Atlantic and yielded the major singles “Thinking Out Loud” and “Sing,” earning Album of the Year and Best Male Solo Artist at the 2015 Brit Awards. Global impact followed: x ranked as the world’s second-highest-selling album of 2015 behind Adele’s 25, and “Thinking Out Loud” captured the Grammy for Song of the Year plus Best Pop Solo Performance in 2016.

Most of 2016 was devoted to rest and work on his third album under executive producer Benny Blanco. Early the next year he issued the paired singles “Castle on the Hill” and “Shape of You,” the latter reaching number one across numerous territories. Their parent album ÷ arrived in March, topping charts in more than twenty markets including the U.K. and U.S. while spawning the international success “Galway Girl.” Recognition peaked in June 2017 when he received an MBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Subsequent months brought continued touring and further honors, among them the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album for ÷ and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Shape of You.”

The 2019 single “I Don’t Care,” a collaboration with Justin Bieber, launched a sequence of duets assembled on No. 6 Collaborations Project. Released July 12, the album quickly topped multiple charts mere weeks after Sheeran’s appearance in the Danny Boyle film Yesterday, a story set in a world without the Beatles. The project later earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album. In December 2020 he offered the acoustic standalone track “Afterglow” as a holiday present to listeners.

“Bad Habits” arrived in June 2021, claiming the top spot in nearly every country except the U.S., where it reached number two, and served as the lead single for the fifth album =. Issued that October, = examined the realities of fatherhood and incorporated songwriting input from Foy Vance, Ben Kweller, and Natalie Hemby among others. It extended Sheeran’s run of U.K. number-one albums and performed strongly worldwide. That December he joined Elton John for the holiday single “Merry Christmas,” which led both the U.K. singles chart and Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and appeared on a festive edition of = as well as John’s The Lockdown Sessions. Further 2021–2022 collaborations included “Sigue” and “Forever My Love” with J Balvin, while “Celestial,” tied to Pokémon, reached the U.K. Top Ten; early 2023 brought “F64,” a tribute to the late British music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards.

The cycle for the next album opened in early 2023 with “Eyes Closed” and “Boat,” both featured on -, which incorporated joint work with Aaron Dessner of the National alongside contributions from Max Martin, Shellback, and Foy Vance. Four months later - debuted at number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. Autumn Variations, another Dessner-produced set, followed and likewise topped the U.K. chart while reaching the Billboard 200 Top Ten. By year’s end - had secured a Best Pop Vocal Album nomination at the 66th Grammy Awards. The first greatest-hits collection, +-=÷× TOUR COLLECTION, appeared in September 2024, blending live recordings with many of his most familiar studio tracks.