Ed Sheeran was named Solo Artist of the Year at last night's GQ Men of the Year Awards in London, and he chatted with the magazine about his new album, = (Equals), and his friendship with Taylor Swift.
Since this will be the first album Ed's released since he and his wife Cherry welcomed daughter Lyra, the singer wants to make one thing clear. "Yes, there is a song I’ve written to and about my daughter, almost a lullaby, but this is categorically not a dad record!” he tells GQ.
"First and foremost I wanted this record to feel like a warm hug," he adds. "In that way, ‘Bad Habits’ is the curve ball in all this; that’s why it had to be the first single."
He explains, "Every year there is a new artist who is more exciting…every year there’s a new person who is the biggest thing and…y'know, you are no longer exciting," he explains. "So you have to find ways to make people more excited by you.”
Ed admits, "I keep saying this record isn’t going to do what ÷ (Divide) did; it can’t…but, you know, I’ve been wrong before about my own stuff: I thought ‘Shape of You’ would bomb."
In addition to getting = on October 29, we'll also be hearing Ed on his pal Taylor Swift's upcoming album, Red (Taylor's Version). He says of her, "Me and Taylor have had a ten-year friendship now; we’ve seen one another evolve as people. I thought what she did with the two albums she put out during the pandemic is how albums will be released in the future. It’s how I’d like to do it."
He adds, “Taylor is just someone I would definitely call if things were truly f**ked."
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