Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is a singer/songwriter currently signed under Atlantic Records. Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, before moving to Framlingham, Suffolk. He learned guitar at a very young age, and began writing songs during his time at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham. Many of his early childhood memories that he referred to in a 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.
Sheeran began recording in 2005, which led to the release of his first EP, The Orange Room EP. Sheeran also released two 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. Also in 2008, Sheeran auditioned for ITV 1′s “Britannia High”. He was unsuccessful, despite the tutors and judges being impressed with him.
In 2009, he played 312 gigs. Ed said that he read an interview with James Morrison that said that James had done 200 gigs in a year, so Ed said he wanted to beat him on this number. When he ran out of money, he left his flat he was renting and started ‘sofa surfing’ around London, he has been doing this ever since, even after he signed his deal. Also in 2009, he released another EP, You Need Me, just before going on tour with Just Jack, and in February 2010 began to get noticed after he 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 second indie release, his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which features one of his most popular songs “The A Team”. A video was made for the song, and famously cost only £20 to make.
In April 2010, after leaving his old management company, he bought a ticket to LA, with no contacts other than one poetry night. He played open mic nights all over LA, before being spotted at ‘The Foxxhole’ by Jamie Foxx, who invited him to stay at his house and record for the rest of his stay. Throughout 2010, Sheeran began to be seen by more and more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew incredibly, with him also getting credit from The Independent newspaper, England football captain Rio Ferdinand and even Elton John.
Sheeran released three more EPs in 2010, including Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford, a live EP and Songs I Wrote With Amy which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with fellow singer songwriter Amy Wadge. On 9 January 2011, Sheeran released his final independent EP, No.5 Collaborations Project featuring appearances by grime artists including Wiley, JME, Devlin and Ghetts. With this EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention for reaching number 1 in the iTunes chart without any promotion or label, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week. He was listed as a ‘special guest’ on Devlin’s 2011 Bud, Sweat and Beers mini-tour alongside Griminal and Tinchy Stryder
On 12 April 2011, Ed put on a free show to fans at the Barfly in Camden. Over 1000 fans turned up to see the show, so Ed Sheeran ended up playing 4 different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Sheeran underestimated the amount of people that turned up and was overwhelmed.
