Ed Sheeran may be saying goodbye to Top 40 music and looking to country. The English singer-songwriter revealed on Tuesday (May 9) that he wants to change up his sound. Sheeran, 32, told Billboard that he talks about it with his wife “all the time.”
“I would love to transition into country,” the “Thinking Out Loud” singer said. “I love the culture of it, I just love the songwriting. It’s just like, brilliant songs.” Ed transitioning into country music may actually not be as big as a surprise as you might think. He is a major fan of the genre and has even lived in Nashville twice for extended periods of time in 2013 and 2018. While there, he found himself inspired by the local songwriters.
“It’s like a community. There’s not really a place in Europe where you could point and say, ‘That’s the home of songwriting,'” he said of the Music City. “It’s not just for country music. Nashville is just a hub of incredible songwriters, incredible performers. And I really felt inspired just being there being around everyone.”
He has his close friend Taylor Swift to thank for turning him on to country music. “I’d never really listened to country music as a kid growing up,” Sheeran said. “It was only being on Taylor’s Red tour and living in Nashville and her basically introducing me to that side of it.” Now that he’s a fan, he added he and his wife have found and listen to a country radio station in England that they have on “all day, every day in the kitchen.”
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As country music grows in popularity internationally, he predicts more artists will experience global success. “Luke Combs could probably play a stadium in England,” the singer-songwriter added. “I think if he put on Wembley [Stadium] next summer, he could sell it.”
Ed Sheeran is set to perform at tonight's ACM awards. Posting on their official Instagram page, the musician playfully asked, “Who said the Brits don’t have a little bit of country in them?”
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