Ed Sheeran

Edward Christopher Sheeran (/ˈʃɪəɹən/; Halifax, England, 17 February 1991), known as Ed Sheeran, is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist.​ As a child he began singing in the church he attended and also taught himself to play the guitar. At the age of 16 he left secondary school and moved to London to pursue a career in music. After releasing an independent EP in early 2011, he caught the attention of Elton John, who put him in touch with Asylum Records, and he signed a recording contract. In September 2011 he released his debut album, +, which was a commercial success and charted in the UK album chart. The album is led by the single «The A Team», which was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year. In 2012 Sheeran won the British Breakthrough Artist and British Male Solo Artist awards at the Brit Awards. He supported Taylor Swift as the opening act on her Red Tour for several months in 2013. In 2014 he was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

His second album, x, released in 2014, was an even greater sales success than his debut; it reached number one on the US Billboard 200 and also topped the UK album chart, and by February 2016 it had sold ten million copies worldwide. The single «Thinking Out Loud» earned him the awards for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

His third album, ÷, released in 2017, debuted at number one in the UK, selling 672,000 units in its first week, making it the best-selling album by a male artist in that country and the third-biggest debut behind Adele's 25 and Oasis's Be Here Now. It also topped the charts in 14 countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia. All tracks on the album entered the top 20 of the UK singles chart in the week of its release, mainly due to large-scale streaming. The songs «Castle on the Hill» and «Shape of You» were released earlier, on 5 January 2017, as a lead-up to his third studio album. The album won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance at the 2018 Grammys.

His fourth album, =, released in 2021, was supported by the singles «Bad Habits», «Shivers» and «Overpass Graffiti», as well as «Visiting Hours», released as the only promotional single. It received mixed reviews from music critics.

Since 2024 he has been a shareholder in Ipswich Town Football Club.