Post by Admin on Jun 28, 2014 2:00:28 GMT
Sheeran’s appeal isn’t restricted to adoring females. The 23-year-old’s effortless blend of troubadour pop and hip-hop—the result of influences as disparate as Bob Dylan and Eminem—has already earned him three Grammy nominations, a gig on SNL, and multiple Today show appearances (he’ll make his fourth on July 4). The new toast of the music business, he’s one of the few artists who can collaborate with both Williams and Taylor Swift, who tapped Sheeran to join her 2013 tour, boosting his profile with her massive fan base. One minute he’s getting career advice from Elton John and the next he’s working on a new song with Usher, who met Sheeran at a dinner this past spring. “He can create images through words and melodies,” says Usher. “It’s like watching a movie.”
And those are just his music-biz buddies. Visiting Los Angeles more than a year ago, Sheeran was invited to a dinner party that turned out to be at the Malibu home of actress Courteney Cox; he serenaded her guests and crashed in her cabana. Another night, he brought along Swift and members of the band Snow Patrol (one of whom became Cox’s boyfriend). “Ed’s comfortable in his skin,” says Cox. “That’s why he brings people together. You can be 8 or 88, I don’t think it matters.” Sheeran’s Hollywood pals also include Jennifer Aniston, with whom he celebrated Thanksgiving last year. He calls Cox “the sweetest girl” and says that becoming friends with two stars of a show he grew up watching is “surreal.”
As bemused as Sheeran can seem about the opportunities that have come his way, he’s equally intense and driven about his career. When he was growing up in the English town of Framlingham, his parents held “millions of jobs,” he says; among them, his father was a curator at a London art galley, and his mother was an art consultant. (These days, she sells jewelry inspired by some of her son’s lyrics and favorite candies, of which he very much approves.) He began playing guitar after seeing Eric Clapton on TV. “I was a misguided teenager,” he says. “I just needed focus, and as soon as I started writing songs and playing shows, that was my focus.” At 16, he announced he was moving to London to pursue his music; his mother was unsure, but his father gave his blessing.
To be sure, Sheeran has had a few rock star cliché moments. He’s admitted to sampling a form of ecstasy while on vacation, passing out drunk at Aniston’s house, and having what he calls “a mini-freak-out” late last year over his career and personal life, which inspired the song “I’m a Mess” on x. When asked about the repeated references to drinking in his songs, he says with a smile, “I’m English—that’s what we do! I don’t have a drinking problem, though.”
Far more revealing of Sheeran’s inherent equilibrium was a “wicked night” after a Grammy Awards party in Los Angeles this year. He and some friends returned to his hotel room and everyone grabbed whatever wasn’t bolted down, piling it into the bathtub. But when Sheeran awoke the next morning and assessed the damage, “I felt so bad and said, ‘Oh, someone’s going to have to clean this up,’ ” he recalls with a sheepish grin. “So I literally de-trashed my room and put it back to normal. If I trash a hotel room, will anyone like me more? You’re not going to have kids going, ‘Oh, that’s really cool and edgy.’ You’re probably going to get a ticked-off maid and that’s about it.” Says Camp, “That sums him up. I didn’t see a bill, so he probably put it back even tidier than it was before.” (Fun footnote: In the video for “Sing,” an Ed Sheeran puppet spends a debauched evening and ends up, with the real Ed, in a thoroughly wrecked room.)
In some ways, he’s a male version of Swift: young, talented, ambitious, supremely confident, and unafraid to leap across musical genres and write songs inspired by people in his life. The song “Afire Love,” off his new album, is about his grandfather Bill. “I finished writing it on the day of his funeral,” Sheeran says, “and played it for my whole family. Before it went any further, I needed to get the blessing of the people I care about.” And if you’re wondering, “Don’t,” a bitter song of romantic betrayal, is “about someone who’s well known, but not Taylor,” says Sheeran, who has denied ever dating Swift (rumor has it that fellow Brit pop sensation Ellie Goulding is the song’s subject).
He’s even got a 10-year plan. “I know this isn’t going to last forever. Now is the time when I’m making my musical statements and being cool and going to parties. But I don’t think I’ll be living this life in 10 years’ time. If I am, please slap me.” Where will he be instead? “Back home, bunch of kids,” he says without hesitation. “At 33, I should be starting to settle down.” He won’t name his current girlfriend, though he says she’s a chef.
