"Don't" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriterEd Sheeran for his second studio album, x (2014). It was initially planned as the album's lead single, but was passed over in favour of "Sing".[4] It was instead released to iTunes on 13 June 2014 as the second "instant grat" promotional single from x.[5] "Don't" officially impacted US contemporary hit radio on 15 July 2014[6] and was released independently on 24 August 2014 as the album's second single.
"Don't" peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it became Sheeran's first top 10 single. It also made the top 10 in eight other countries. It has sold 1,464,000 copies in the US as of January 2015.[7]
Background and release
Having played the song for Taylor Swift he said, "She was just like, 'Whatever happens, ever, between us as friends, I never want to piss you off that much,'".[8] The song started off "as a riff on his phone",[9] and was recorded first with Benny Blanco, then again with Rick Rubin with the two producers coming together to produce the final cut.[10] The song almost didn't make it onto the album, as Sheeran felt it was "a bit personal", but was urged by those who had heard the demo to release it, as it was "an alright song... so it ended up on the record".[11]
"Don't" was planned to be released as the first single from the album until March 2014, when "Sing" was chosen. Billboard speculated that the provocative "Don't f- with my love" chorus prompted the change.[10] Sheeran debuted a snippet of the song in a commercial for Beats by Dr. Dre in May 2014.[4] On 13 June 2014, "Don't" was made available to customers who pre-ordered x as the second "instant grat" promotional single, following "One", and an official audio stream was released on Sheeran's YouTube page.[2] An extended play accompanied the release of the single, featuring a remix by Rick Ross, a live cover of Nina Simone's "Be My Husband" and a non-album song "Everything You Are". Notably, Ed's lyrics aren't censored on the Rick Ross remix but are on the album version.
Music video
An accompanying music video was released on YouTube on 4 August 2014. The video was directed by Emil Nava and follows a dancer (Philiph Chbeeb from I.aM.mE) going from poverty to wealth.[12] Sheeran makes a brief drive-by cameo appearance. 4Music called it a "compelling watch".[13]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201427 into search. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201435 into search. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
