Ed Sheeran On His Bond with Taylor Swift and Harry Styles

05-17-2023

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(LOUDMOUTH Entertainment) Grammy-winning superstar Ed Sheeran returns as a guest on The Spout Podcast to explain his unique bond with Taylor Swift and Harry Styles while reflecting on his coping methods that got him through his most painful life moments to create his most profound new album, "Subtract."

Contemplating with his wife if he should release some of his most personal songs that are found on his sixth studio album, "Subtract," the 32-year-old tells host Tamara Dhia that "songs have to be written, but they don't have to be released."

Sheeran explains, "So, I had to write the songs. And then there was definitely conversation with, especially with my wife Cherry, with songs about her, like, 'Do we need to put this out into the world? Like, do we?' And yeah, I think she was very much on the side of, like, my creative thing. I think she was like, 'People need to hear these songs', basically. "

When asked if he was nervous to perform any songs on the album in fear of getting emotional, he quipped, "No, because I think it's beyond that point now. I think the songs, they belong to the fans now and actually it'll be quite nice to see what they connect with."

Speaking of connections, Sheeran has grown up in the business with some very high-profile friends. At his level, one might think it is very hard to decipher what a real friend is but when it comes to Taylor Swift, they are friends who "happen to be in the same business."

"I think because we don't do a hell of a lot of business together, really, like we're very much like every now and then we'll come together and do something," explains Sheeran. "But I've hung out with her more times than I can count, and I can count on one hand how many songs we've released together."

The same goes for his long-time buddy, Harry Styles which he knew back when he was 19 years old and Styles was just 16.

"There's something about going through your formative years, you know like it's quite weird. Like, he's obviously, like, on top of the world right now and has gone from being in the biggest boy band in the world to then being the biggest solo artist in the world," says Sheeran. "And it's just it's an amazing journey to see. I'm, like really, like super, super proud of him."

He explains the bond he feels with Styles is very similar to what he feels with Taylor Swift, telling The Spout Podcast, "It's the same thing as Taylor, like, there's rarely people that like totally understand you and I think both of them because they are solo artists and are at this level you kind of talk and there's an understanding there that you don't necessarily get from everyone."

When it comes to the recent whirlwind of events that included the triumph of his eight-year-long copywrite trial, the release of his album, his Disney+ Docuseries debut, and the launch of his North American tour all hitting at the same time, Sheeran says it feels like a "Hollywood movie that's been planned," but that was not the case.

"This isn't the way it was meant to go this week," he reveals. "The trial was meant to end last week. The documentary was meant to come out now. The album was meant to come out March 24th. It was just, yeah, it's all kind of like a perfect storm. Everything kind of happened the way it was going to happen. I'm feeling very, very overwhelmed by it all...But I'm looking back now and being like, 'Oh, my God, like what just happened?'"

Listen to the full interview with ED SHEERAN on The Spout Podcast here.