ED SHEERAN By Megan Sellar

BACKGROUND Edward Christopher ‘Ed’ Sheeran is an English singer- songwriter who combines different genres of music including acoustic soul, folk,pop, and hip-hop to create a new and conventional style of music. He was born on the 17th February 1991 in the market town ofHebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. His father was an art curator and his mother was a culture publicist-turned-jewellery designer.His parents both ran an independent art consultancy called Sheeran Lock which closed in 2010. As a young boy he used to sing as part of the local church choir and play guitar. He also used to write and compose songs during his time at Thomas MillsHill School in Framlingham, Suffolk. Some of his early childhoodmemories including going to an intimate Damien Rice gig inIreland and being a patron of the Youth Music Theatre UK.

MUSIC CAREEREd Sheeran first began recording music in 2005 which led to the release of his first EP – The Orange Room EP. He later moved to London and concentrated on performing in small venues where he played a total of 312 gigs over the space of 12 months. In February 2010 Ed Sheeran posted a video through the entertainment and music channel SB.TV which led to the singer Example inviting Sheeran to accompany him on tour. During the same year, he also released his second EP called ‘Loose Change’ which featured his later debut single ‘The A Team’. The song entails a story about a prostitute who takes class A drugs and is based on a true story by Sheeran after meeting a girl called Angel whilst volunteering at a Crisis homeless shelter. The song became the highest selling debut single on the UK singles chart in 2011 and sold approximately 57,607 copies in the first week after it was released. In 2011 he later signed with the American music record label companies Atlantic Records and Asylum and released his debut album ‘Plus’ (stylised as ‘+’) on 9th September 2011. The album includes songs which have been recorded with a small acoustic guitar as he describes his thoughts and feelings around subjects he cares about in his own life, performing with a "soft toned, flexible voice" and a hip-hop theme. In the first week of the album's release, it sold over 100,000 copies and went on to be the 9th biggest selling British album in 2011.

MUSIC CAREER (CONTINUED)

Ed Sheeran performing at Southside Festival, 2014 Ed Sheeran album ‘ X’Ed Sheeran at the Frequency Festival, 2012

Ed Sheeran also co-wrote for several different artists including One Direction and Taylor Swift and provided vocals for the single ‘Everything Has Changed’ featured on Taylor Swift’s fourth album Red which was one of the biggest-selling new albums of 2012. Sheeran also performed across North America as the opening act for Taylor Swift’s ‘The Red Tour’. He later released his single ‘I See Fire’ which was to be featured in the end credits of the film ’The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ and part of the film's soundtrack. On the 23rd June 2014, he released his second studio album ‘X’ which includes the singles ‘Sing', 'Don't’, ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and many more.

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Year Award Ceremony Award Nomination

2011 BT Digital Music Awards

Breakthrough Artist of the year

Ed Sheeran

2012 Brit Awards British Breakthrough Act

Ed Sheeran

Ivor Novello Awards Best Song Musically and Lyrically

‘The A Team’

2013 Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards

Favourite UK Male Artist

Ed Sheeran

2014 MTV Video Music Awards

Best Male Ed Sheeran with Pharrell Williams

Radio Disney Music Awards

Best Musical Collaboration

‘Everything Has Changed’ with Taylor Swift

Teen Choice Awards Choice Single Male Artist

‘Sing’

Over the years, Ed Sheeran has been nominated for a selection of different awards, which he has won 12 in total. The table below shows a few of the awards he has already achieved:

SOCIAL MEDIA

Ed Sheeran’s official Twitter page Ed Sheeran’s official Facebook page

Ed Sheeran also uses different forms of social media including Twitter and Facebook to communicate with his audience and help promote his singles. His official Twitter page has over 10.7 million followers and includes daily updates about the release of his new singles, albums and music videos as well as details on upcoming tours. For example in his photos he has included pictures from his most recent music video ‘Thinking Out Loud’ which was released on 7th October. He has also included a link to the new music video on his official Facebook page which is used as a marketing tool to persuade the pubic to click the link and go and watch the video.

SOCIAL MEDIA (CONTINUED)

Ed Sheeran’s official website includes news updates, concert dates, pictures and lyrics to his songs. Similarly to his official Facebook page, the website also features his most recent music video ‘Thinking Out Loud’ as well as links to his other social networking sites including Twitter and YouTube. He also has an online store which is available on his website enabling the audience to buy merchandise. His new album ‘X’ is also featured on his website which takes viewers to the iTunes Store to download. I believe by having a wide variety of social media accounts enables the audience to connect to him from a personal level and feel involved in the production of his music career.

Ed Sheeran’s official website Ed Sheeran’s official online store