Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran

Date of Birth: February 17, 1991

Born Edward Christopher Sheeran in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, Ed Sheeran is an award-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and aspiring actor. Ed grew up around art and culture thanks to his parents, John and Imogen. His father John is an art curator and lecturer, while his mother Imogen is a culture publicist turned jewelry designer. Together they ran an independent art consultancy named Sheeran Lock. Additionally, his brother Matthew is also a music composer.

As a child, Ed sang in a local church choir starting at age four, and later learned to play guitar while attending Rishworth School. While enrolled at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, he began songwriting. He was also accepted at the National Youth Theatre as a teenager. He then successfully auditioned for the Youth Theatre YK in 2007, joining their production of Frankenstein in Plymouth.

During these years Ed would independently record his own music and put them in collections. In 2011 he signed with Asylum Records and released his debut album + (pronounced “plus”), which would go on to be certified seven-times platinum. His second studio album x (pronounced “multiply”) was released in 2014 to critical and commercial acclaim. It won the 2015 Brit Award for Album of the Year. The single “Thinking Out Loud” from the album would go on to earn him two Grammy Awards including Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. His third and latest album, ÷ (pronounced “divide”) was released in 2017, debuting at number one in the U.K. and the U.S. Thanks to his hit singles “Shape of You” and “Castle on the Hill,” the album became the best-selling record worldwide in 2017.

His music career has helped him break through into the world of acting. Ed made his screen debut in the romantic drama Pop Star (2013), playing himself. He would also lend his musical talents to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), composing the song “I See Fire” and performing it for the film’s end credits. His first credited role came in the TV series Home and Away (2015), playing Teddy. Ed would later take on a recurring role on the TV mini-series The Bastard Executioner (2015) as Sir Cormac.

He would again appear as himself in the rom-com Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016). A year later he would make a cameo on the hit HBO series Game of Thrones (2017) as a Lannister soldier. Ed would be the latest celebrity to cameo and lend his voice talents on The Simpsons (2018), playing the character of Brendan in the episode "Haw-Haw Land." He once again played himself, although in a more substantial role, in the Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis music comedy Yesterday (2019).

Ed Sheeran married his wife, Cherry Seaborn, in 2018.