Look out world, Ed Sheeran is plotting a country music career
Ed Sheeran, ahead of his performance at the American Country Music Awards, says he talks to his wife about going country "all the time"
Fresh off a legal victory regarding his song “Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran is looking for new ground to conquer. Sheeran has been a powerhouse force in pop music both on stage and behind the scenes (penning tunes for the likes of One Direction, Camilla Cabello, and Little Mix). Now, he’s pondering a new niche—country music.
This comes after an announcement that he’d be performing at the American Country Music Awards on Thursday. “I would love to transition into country,” he reveals in a new interview with Billboard, saying he talks to his wife about the idea “all the time.” “I love the culture of it, I just love the songwriting. It’s just like brilliant songs.”
The transition from pop to country probably isn’t too much of a stretch for Sheeran, whose guitar-based singer-songwriter origin would lend itself quite well to the genre. Plus, he has a role model in his good pal and frequent collaborator Taylor Swift, who made the opposite transition (country to pop) between 2012 and 2014.
“I’d never really listened to country music as a kid growing up. It was only being on Taylor’s Red tour and living in Nashville and her basically introducing me to that side of it,” Sheeran tells the outlet. He lauds the community in Nashville, Tennessee as “a hub of incredible songwriters, incredible performers,” saying he “felt inspired just being there being around everyone” when he was based in the city in 2013 and 2018.
Sheeran is reportedly playing “Life Goes On” (from his new album “-” i.e. Subtract) as well as another tune with a country artist who invited him to duet. That artist is as yet a mystery, but Luke Combs and Keith Urban are among the list of performers, so they’re both possible candidates. Sheeran co-wrote the Urban track “Parallel Lines,” and he’s shared the stage with Luke Combs. And although the U.K. doesn’t have as large a culture for country music, Sheeran thinks Combs “could probably play a stadium in England. I think if he put on Wembley [Stadium] next summer, he could sell it.” Perhaps Sheeran himself will be the one to bridge the divide (no Sheeran album title pun intended) for Britain’s country music fans.