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Ed Sheeran

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Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran in 2011
Ed Sheeran in 2011
Background information
Birth nameEdward Christopher Sheeran
Born (1991-02-17) 17 February 1991 (age 33)
Halifax, England
OriginFramlingham, England
GenresFolk, acoustic, soul
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, producer, rapper, musician
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, BOSS Loop Pedal RC-30, percussion, piano
Years active2005–present
LabelsAsylum, Atlantic, Elektra
Websiteedsheeran.com

Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Raised in Framlingham, England, he began recording in 2005 and moved to London in 2008 to pursue a musical career. In 2009, he played 312 gigs and in early 2011, Sheeran released an independent extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project which led him to be signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records. Buoyed by the commercial breakthrough success of the singles "The A Team" and "Lego House", his debut album + (2011) has been certified quintuple platinum in the United Kingdom. In 2012, he won two BRIT Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Breakthrough of the Year, while "The A Team" also won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

Life and career

1991–2011: Early life and career beginnings

Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire. His paternal grandparents were Irish.[2][3][4] He is a cousin of TV journalist and presenter Gordon Burns.[5] Sheeran moved to Framlingham, Suffolk, as a child. He learned guitar at a very young age, and began writing songs during his time at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham.[6] His early childhood memories, referred to in an interview on the Zane Lowe show, included listening to Van Morrison on his countless trips to London with his parents and going to an intimate gig with Damien Rice in Ireland when he was 11.[7] He also opened for Nizlopi in Norwich in April 2008 after being one of their guitar technicians.[6] Sheeran began recording in 2005, which led to the release of his first EP, The Orange Room EP. Sheeran also released 2 albums, a self-titled one in 2006 and Want Some? in 2007. He moved to London in 2008 to play gigs, starting off in very small venues, playing every day, to as little as five people. In 2008, he auditioned for the ITV series Britannia High.[8]

In 2009, Sheeran played 312 gigs. He said that he read an interview with James Morrison that said that Morrison had done 200 gigs in a year, and Sheeran wanted to beat him on this number.[9] Also in 2009, he released another EP, You Need Me, just before going on tour with Just Jack. He also did a few collaborations with Leddra Chapman, including Cee Lo Green's Fuck You. In February 2010 Sheeran posted a video through SB.TV, which led to mainstream rapper Example asking Sheeran to tour with him. Also in February 2010 he released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his later debut single "The A Team".

In April 2010, after leaving his old management company, Sheeran bought a ticket to Los Angeles, with no contacts other than one poetry night. He played open mic nights all over the city, before his talent was spotted at The Foxxhole by Jamie Foxx, who was so impressed that he offered Sheeran the use of his recording studio and the run of his Hollywood home for the rest of his stay. Throughout 2010, Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew, with him also getting credit from The Independent newspaper, England football captain Rio Ferdinand and Elton John.[10] Sheeran also self-released two other EPs in 2010; Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford and Songs I Wrote With Amy, which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with fellow singer songwriter Amy Wadge.

Sheeran at Academy 1, Manchester Dot to Dot Festival, May 2011

On 8 January 2011, Sheeran released his final independent EP, No. 5 Collaborations Project featuring appearances by grime artists including Wiley, JME, Devlin, Sway and Ghetts.[11] With this EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention for reaching number 2 in the iTunes chart without any promotion or label, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week.[12] Three months later, Sheeran put on a free show to fans at the Barfly in Camden. Over 1,000 fans turned up to see the show, so Sheeran ended up playing four different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Later that month, Sheeran was signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records.

2011–present: + and commercial success

On 26 April, Sheeran appeared on the TV music show Later... with Jools Holland – where he performed his debut single "The A Team". Six weeks later, "The A Team" was released as a digital download in the UK. The release served as the lead single from Sheeran's debut studio album, entitled +. "The A Team" entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, selling over 58,000 copies in the first week. It was congratulated on being the best selling debut single and the overall eight best selling single of 2011, shifting 801,000 copies.[13] The lead single also became a top ten hit in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands. During a headline set in the BBC Introducing tent at Glastonbury Festival 2011, Sheeran announced that "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" would be released on 28 August as the second single from the album. The second single peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart.[14] "Lego House" was released as the third single,[15] reaching the top ten on Australian, Irish, Scottish, New Zealand Singles Charts, Flemish Ultratop 50 and the Wallonian Ultratip. "Drunk", released on 19 February 2012, became Sheeran's fourth consecutive top ten single in the UK, peaking at number nine.[16]

Sheeran's debut album + was released on 12 September 2011. + received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65, which indicates "generally favourable reviews".[17] + debuted number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 102,000 copies in its first week.[18] It became the second best selling debut album and the ninth biggest-selling album of 2011 in the UK, shifting 791,000 copies.[19] The album has been certified quintuple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry, denoting shipments of 1,500,000 copies.[20] As of March 2012, the album had sold 1,021,072 copies in the UK.[21] The album also reached the top ten on the Australian Albums Chart, Flanders Belgian Albums Chart,[22] Dutch Albums Chart,[23] Irish Albums Chart,[24] New Zealand Albums Chart[25] and the Swiss Albums Chart.[26]

The song "Moments" on the debut album by boy band One Direction, released in November 2011, was co-written by Sheeran.[27] On 21 February 2012, Sheeran attended the 2012 Brit Awards at which he received the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Breakthrough of the Year.[28][29] On 10 January 2012, it was announced Sheeran would support Snow Patrol on their United States tour from late March until May on the band's Fallen Empires Tour.[30] His song "Give Me Love" was featured in the episode "Dangerous Liaisons" of The Vampire Diaries.[31][32] At the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards in May 2012, Sheeran's "The A Team" bested Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and Florence and the Machine's "Shake It Out", winning the award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.[33] Sheeran performed "The A Team" at the United Kingdom's Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II on 4 June 2012 and a cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics on 12 August 2012.[34][35]

In March 2012, Sheeran disclosed that the production of his second studio album had commenced.[36] Sheeran co-wrote and sings duet on the song "Everything Has Changed" from Taylor Swift's fourth album Red, which was released in October 2012. Sheeran also contributed two songs to One Direction's second studio album, Take Me Home, released in November 2012.[37] "Over Again" and the album's second single "Little Things", which ultimately became the group's second number-one hit in the UK.[37][38] From March to September 2013, Sheeran is scheduled to play 58 dates at arenas and stadiums across North America as the opening act for Swift's Red Tour.[39]

Philanthropy

Sheeran performed a gig in Bristol, which raised £40,000 for a charity that reaches out to street sex workers. "It's good to show insight that these people are real people with real emotions and they deserve the same charity work as anyone else," Sheeran said. "There's a lot more popular charities that get a lot of attention. And with certain subjects like this they're often washed over and people don't necessarily give them the attention they deserve." Tickets were available to those taking part in the charity's Give it up for One25 campaign by giving something up for 125 hours and hitting the £125 fundraising mark. Louise Willott, who organised the event at The Fleece, said of Sheeran: "He had volunteered in Crisis in London, which is a homeless shelter, and he had met a woman who told him her story. Her name was Angel. He then went and did some more research about the issues and obviously he must have been moved and inspired to have written The A Team." Willott added: "The Fleece is quite a small venue - it only holds about 400, which makes it extra exciting as it's really intimate and Ed's not playing those size venues anymore. In total this has raised about £40,000 for the project. Its just going to give us such a boost. This is a difficult time for any charity. There's less money available and there's more competition for it, so to have one event raise £40,000 is just incredible."[40]

Discography

Main article: Ed Sheeran discography
  • + (2011)

Tour

Opening act

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2012 Best International Artist Himself Nominated
BRIT Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2012 British Breakthrough Act Himself Won
British Solo Male Artist Won
Best British Single "The A Team" Nominated
British Album of the year "+" Nominated
BT Digital Music Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2011 Breakthrough Artist of the year Himself Won
Grammy Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2013 Song of the Year "The A Team" Pending
Ivor Novello Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2012 Best Song Musically and Lyrically "The A Team" Won
MOBO Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2011 Best Newcomer Himself Nominated
2012 Best Male Act Himself Nominated
Best Album "+" Nominated
Best Song "Lego House" Nominated
MTV Europe Music Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2012 Best UK & Ireland Act Himself Nominated
Q Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2011 Breakthrough Artist Himself Won
Best Single "You Need Me,I don't need You" Won
UK Music Video Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2011 Best Urban Video-UK "You Need Me, I don't need you" Nominated
Best Editing in a Video Nominated
World Music Awards
Year Nomination Nominated Work Result
2012 World's Best Selling Male Artist Himself Pending
World's Best Entertainer of the Year Pending

See also

References

  1. ^ BBC - Wales Music: Amy Wadge: my role in Ed Sheeran's success
  2. ^ http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/qanda-ed-sheeran-2899553.html
  3. ^ Clayton-Lea, Tony (9 September 2011). "Ed Sheeran". The Irish Times.
  4. ^ Arthur’s Day: Ed Sheeran interview
  5. ^ Gordon Burns so proud over cousin Ed Sheeran's Brit Awards success Manchester Evening News,23 February 2012.Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Introducing – Ed Sheeran". BBC Suffolk. April 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  7. ^ Tony Fentons Blog > Daily Download – Ed Sheeran
  8. ^ "Interview: Ed Sheeran, musician". Edinburgh Evening News. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  9. ^ "The amazing story of Ed Sheeran". Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  10. ^ "Elt says Ed's the Cat's whiskers". London: The Sun. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  11. ^ Haugh, Richard (10 January 2011). "Ed Sheeran battles Rihanna for top spot in album chart". BBC News. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  12. ^ BBC Suffolk (13 January 2011). "Ed Sheeran signs with Asylum Records / Atlantic Records following 'No. 5 Collaborations Project' success". BBC News. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  13. ^ http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-top-20-biggest-selling-singles-of-2011-revealed/
  14. ^ http://www.officialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/1/2011-09-10/
  15. ^ iTunes - Music - Lego House - EP by Ed Sheeran
  16. ^ http://www.officialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/1/2012-03-10/
  17. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/+/critic-reviews
  18. ^ Sperling, Daniel (18 September 2011). "Ed Sheeran tops UK album chart with '+'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  19. ^ http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-top-20-biggest-selling-albums-of-2011-revealed/
  20. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx
  21. ^ Alan Jones (5 March 2012). "Official Chart Analysis: Sande thrives in Scotland, Ed Sheeran album tops 1m sales in UK". Music Week. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  22. ^ "Ed Sheeran – +". ultratop.be. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  23. ^ "dutchcharts.nl – Ed Sheeran – +". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  24. ^ "GFK Chart-Track". Chart-track.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  25. ^ "charts.org.nz – Ed Sheeran – +". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  26. ^ Steffen Hung. "Ed Sheeran – +". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  27. ^ "One Direction name debut album". Digital Spy. 2 November 2012.
  28. ^ Brit Awards 2012: List of winners BBC. Retrieved 22 February 2012
  29. ^ Adele, Coldplay Lead BRIT Award Nominations Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 February 2012
  30. ^ "Ed Sheeran Announces US Supporting Tour". Sinchronicity. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  31. ^ "Ahhh wicked, my song Give Me Love was used in the Vampire diaries tonight". Twitter / Ed Sheeran. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  32. ^ Carina Adly MacKenzie (10 February 2012). "'The Vampire Diaries' recap: In which Elena is starting to get on our nerves". Zap2it. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  33. ^ "Adele wins Ivor Novello Awards double". BBC News. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  34. ^ Andrea Magrath (5 June 2012). "Twittersphere divided over who was the worst performer at Jubilee concert... Cheryl Cole or will.i.am 5 June 2012". Daily Mail. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  35. ^ "Ed Sheeran Olympics Closing Ceremony: Singer Wears Hoodie, Sings Pink Floyd". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  36. ^ "Ed Sheeran Confirms He Has Already Started Work On Second Album". Capital FM. Global Radio. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  37. ^ a b "One Direction's Pal Ed Sheeran Penned Their Next U.K. Single". MTV News. MTV Networks. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |autjor= ignored (help)
  38. ^ Dan Lane (18 November 2012). "One Direction score Number 1 single AND album!". United Kingdom: Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  39. ^ "Taylor Swift Tour to Paint the Road 'Red'". Billboard. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  40. ^ "Ed Sheeran gig in Bristol raises £40,000 for One25". BBC News. BBC. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  41. ^ "Taylor Swift Announces 'Red' Tour - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 27 October 2012.

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