60 Fun Facts About Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran was born in 1991 in which West Yorkshire town?

His first childhood home was in nearby Hebden Bridge; a 2018 poll still ranked him the fourth-greatest Yorkshireman ever.

Sheeran's family moved to Suffolk when he was four. Which market town does he consider home?

Its medieval castle inspired one of his biggest 2017 singles, and he later bought a farm nearby that the press nicknamed "Sheeranville".

Sheeran says seeing which guitarist play "Layla" at the 2002 Golden Jubilee concert made him take up guitar?

Two days later he bought a £30 black Stratocaster copy and spent a month trying to play that riff.

Sheeran was a guitar tech for which folk-hip-hop duo, known for "JCB Song", before opening for them in 2008?

He has cited them alongside Eminem and a certain Liverpool foursome as his biggest influences.

Sheeran credits rapping along to which album with helping him overcome a childhood stutter?

Years later he guested on the same rapper's 2017 album Revival, calling him one of the reasons he started writing songs.

Which 'Let Her Go' singer has been Sheeran's friend since a shared Cambridge gig when Ed was 15?

Sheeran started recording at 13 and self-released a collection called Spinning Man that year.

Which actor invited Sheeran to stay at his home after a 2010 performance at his LA club, The Foxxhole?

It happened before Sheeran had a record deal; he was signed to Asylum in 2011.

Sheeran's 2011 breakthrough EP, No.5 Collaborations Project, featured artists from which UK scene?

With Wiley, Jme, Devlin and others aboard, it reached number 2 on iTunes with no label or promotion.

Which song was Sheeran's debut single and first hit?

It entered the UK chart at number three, sold 801,000 copies in 2011 and beat Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" to an Ivor Novello Award.

Sheeran's debut album, released in September 2011, is titled with which mathematical symbol?

It debuted at number one in the UK on 102,000 sales and has since gone six times platinum there.

Which Harry Potter actor stars in the "Lego House" video as a play on his resemblance to Sheeran?

"Lego House" was the third single from his debut album and a top-ten hit in Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.

Which Pink Floyd song did Sheeran cover at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics?

Two months earlier he had played his debut single outside Buckingham Palace at the Diamond Jubilee concert.

Sheeran wrote "Little Things", a UK number one, for which boy band?

He had already co-written "Moments" for their debut album a year earlier.

Sheeran co-wrote and sang on which single from Taylor Swift's album Red?

Swift reached out after hearing his music on tour in Australia in 2012; he then opened her Red Tour and got a scarlet "RED" tattoo.

Which star, whose company manages Ed Sheeran, performed with him at the 2013 Grammys?

The pair later recorded the 2021 charity single "Merry Christmas" together.

Sheeran's 2013 song "I See Fire" plays over the end credits of which film?

It also appears on the deluxe edition of his second album.

Which single gave Sheeran his first UK number one in 2014?

Its funky sound was such a departure that the acoustic ballad "One" was rushed out to reassure fans.

Roughly how many songs did Sheeran write over three years for his second album, ×?

The finished record featured production by Rick Rubin, Pharrell Williams and Benny Blanco.

Which song kept "Thinking Out Loud" at number two on the US Hot 100 for eight weeks?

Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars held the top spot; the ballad still won Song of the Year at the 2016 Grammys.

Sheeran wrote "Thinking Out Loud" with which Wales-based songwriter, at 2 a.m. in his kitchen?

They finished it in about 20 minutes and it became the last song recorded for ×.

Unusually, Sheeran took the lead role in the "Thinking Out Loud" video doing what?

It was the third single from × and his highest-charting song in North America until 2017.

A 2023 New York jury cleared Sheeran of copying which Marvin Gaye song in "Thinking Out Loud"?

The verdict was unanimous, and in 2025 the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, ending the dispute.

Sheeran wrote which Justin Bieber hit, having originally planned to put it on his own third album?

He has said the track would have been scrapped if Bieber had not taken it.

Sheeran said "Shape of You" was written with which singer in mind before he kept it for himself?

It was first pitched to Little Mix, then imagined as a duet with Rudimental, before the label boss talked him into keeping it.

The writers of which TLC song were given credits on "Shape of You" after fans noticed similarities?

Kandi Burruss, Tameka Cottle and Kevin Briggs joined Sheeran, Steve Mac and Johnny McDaid on the credits.

In December 2018 "Shape of You" became the first song to reach how many streams on Spotify?

By 2026 it had passed five billion, second only to "Blinding Lights".

Which song, released the same day as 'Shape of You', debuted at UK number two?

Together the two singles racked up over 13 million Spotify streams in 24 hours.

÷ sold 672,000 copies in its first UK week, third-fastest ever behind Adele's 25 and which album?

It remains the fastest-selling album by a male solo artist in UK chart history.

Whose record of nine top-10 UK singles from one album did Sheeran break in 2017 with ten from ÷?

Almost the entire album charted at once because of streaming rules that were tightened soon afterwards.

Sheeran's "Perfect Duet", the 2017 UK Christmas number one, features which singer?

A third version, "Perfect Symphony", followed two weeks later with an operatic tenor.

"Perfect Symphony" paired Sheeran with which Italian tenor?

It used the full string arrangement written for the original by Sheeran's brother Matthew, at their grandmother's suggestion.

Sheeran wrote 'Perfect' after a night at which singer's Ibiza house listening to Future's 'March Madness'?

It was the first track he wrote for ÷ and he finished it in a single studio day.

"Perfect" was written about Sheeran's future wife, a former school classmate. What is her name?

They started dating in 2015, married in 2019 and have two daughters.

Which Eminem track from the album Revival features Sheeran?

Sheeran called the rapper one of the reasons he started writing songs.

Sheeran's 2017 Game of Thrones cameo was arranged as a surprise for which cast member, a big fan?

Showrunner David Benioff said they had tried to get him on the show for years; the scene drew sharply mixed reviews.

In the 2019 film Yesterday, Sheeran plays himself in a world where only one man remembers which band?

The Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle film has him suggesting "Hey Dude" as a better title.

Sheeran cameos as a wedding singer who gets arrested at the end of which 2021 Netflix action comedy?

Director Rawson Marshall Thurber was a fan and asked for the cameo through a mutual friend during pre-production.

After covering 'Make It Rain' for Sons of Anarchy, Sheeran was cast in which FX medieval drama?

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter cast him after hearing the cover.

Sheeran has a tattoo of, and wrote a TV ad for, which condiment?

The company later sold a limited-edition bottle nicknamed "Edchup".

Sheeran sponsored the shirts of, and in 2024 bought a 1.4% stake in, which football club?

The club also lists him in its squad with the number 17.

Which record label did Sheeran found in 2015, signing Jamie Lawson as its first act?

Foy Vance and Maisie Peters followed, and by 2023 it was releasing Sheeran's own albums.

What is Sheeran's Notting Hill bar and restaurant, named after his wife, called?

During the pandemic he ran a free breakfast club there for children entitled to free school meals.

Which of Sheeran's own singles knocked "Bad Habits" off the top of the UK chart in September 2021?

"Bad Habits" had spent eleven straight weeks at number one.

How was the cover art for the 2021 album = created?

He said the painting reflects four years of marriage, fatherhood and losing friends.

Sheeran's 2021 charity duet "Merry Christmas" was inspired by a scene from which romantic comedy?

Its video recreates classic British Christmas hits including "Last Christmas" and "Stay Another Day".

Which 2023 album was the first for which Sheeran owns the copyright?

It was also his first release through his own label.

"Azizam", the lead single from Play (2025), takes its title from which language?

It means "dear" or "beloved"; he floated 34 giant inflatable hearts in twelve cities to promote it.

Which Indian singer collaborated with Sheeran on the 2025 single "Sapphire"?

It was released while Sheeran was touring India and was noted for its Punjabi undertones.

Play is the first of a five-album series that continues with Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind and what?

He also says an album called Eject, of songs he has recorded since 18, is being saved for release after his death.

Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour ended in August 2019 with four homecoming shows in which Suffolk town?

It ran to 260 shows over two and a half years, including a gig for 100,000 people at a Helsinki airport.

Why did Sheeran cancel Taipei, Seoul, Hong Kong and Jakarta dates on the ÷ Tour's Asian leg in 2017?

Rescheduled shows in Manila, Osaka and Tokyo went ahead in April 2018.

Sheeran settled a 2017 claim that "Photograph" copied the chorus of "Amazing" by which X Factor winner?

He later said settling made him feel dirty and opened the floodgates to further lawsuits, so he stopped playing the song for a while.

Which honour did Sheeran receive from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in December 2017?

It was awarded for services to music and charity; he had already been named a baron of Sealand in 2012.

Sheeran won a 2024 Emmy for "A Beautiful Game", a song written for which series?

It was in the Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics category at the Creative Arts Emmys.

Sheeran says the first CD he ever bought, with £10 from his aunt, was Conspiracy of One by which band?

He used to perform their song "Million Miles Away" in front of a mirror and later played it on stage with them.

Sheeran says which artist's album Irish Heartbeat was the record that introduced him to music?

He later described the melody of "Thinking Out Loud" as written in a very Van-like way.

Sheeran's second cousin, Gordon Burns, hosted which British game show?

Sheeran's own school report called him a natural performer, and classmates voted him most likely to be famous.

In 2007, teenage Sheeran joined a Youth Music Theatre UK show in Plymouth based on which novel?

He had also been accepted into the National Youth Theatre and later became a patron of the youth theatre company.

In December 2019, which body named Sheeran its 'artist of the decade' for the 2010s?

The title reflected his combined success on the UK album and singles charts across the decade.

Which pair of years saw the births of Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn's two daughters?

The couple announced their engagement in January 2018 and married a year later.