Ed Sheeran | |
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Sheeran performing in Sydney, Australia, February 2013
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Background information | |
Birth name | Edward Christopher Sheeran |
Born |
Halifax, West Yorkshire, England |
17 February 1991
Origin | Framlingham, Suffolk, England |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, record producer |
Instruments |
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Years active | 2004–present |
Labels | |
Website | www |
Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. He attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey, as an undergraduate from the age of 18 in autumn 2009. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, which caught the attention of Elton John and Jamie Foxx. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (read as "plus"), was released on 9 September 2011 and has since been certified seven-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single "The A Team", which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.
Sheeran's popularity abroad began in 2012. In the US, he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swift's fourth studio album, Red. "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John. He spent much of 2013 opening for Swift's The Red Tour in North America dates. In late 2013, he performed three sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden as a headline act.