I think he is an updated version of Willy Nelson because he is just   a shaggy guy with a guitar who can turn out amazing songs. Ed Sheeran is a change in the music world. The way Isaac Newton’s laws of motion in physics helped us launch trains and rockets into motion and the way Albert Einstein’s laws of relativity helped us with satellites and nuclear power, in music this disheveled guy helps comfort us with his own way of becoming famous and his style of songs of which no two songs sound the same. We do recognize instantly his voice. Of course we can’t compare any modern day musician to the likes of these physics geniuses but we can applaud the individuality of Adele and Ed to express themselves in a different way musically from all the rest.

His song called Thinking Out Loud won the Grammy for best song of the year last   year. This year he is releasing a new album. He is 26 years old and is being successful in the music industry his way. A song from his new album is called the Shape of You and has gotten internet hits in the billions. He chose to release 2 advanced tracks instead of the traditional one track from the new album. Both songs have been sitting at the top of the charts since the day they have been put out. That is the first time that has ever happened in the music business. He grew up on England’s east coast and when he visits his old stomping grounds the people still treat him the same as if he wasn’t a famous guy.

He did receive the Most Likely to be Famous Award from his Thomas Mills High School at his year 11 Prom Award ceremony. Ed didn’t disappoint his classmates. The method to his success is to sit with his thoughts and his guitar and sing interesting original songs. He has a song called the Castle on the Hill and there was a real castle on a hill where he and his friends used to hang out. Beyond writing the songs Ed also wrote his own rules on how to sell the songs. Like most musicians he sang in bars and on street corners for fun, fame and money. He did not go knocking on record label doors begging for a label to sign him   or just wait to be discovered.  Instead he began marketing his own songs. He posted his stuff on websites until a record label came calling after him.

Ed baited the fish and they offered him $20,000. Meanwhile he had already earned a half million dollars by putting out his songs his own way on websites. By the time his first album came out in 2011 he called it plus because it moved around the world covering new ground. The labels can provide that kind of coverage. His next album was called Multiply.  Does he have a thing for math? That album reached number one in Britain and the United States. It is hard to go to a wedding these days without dancing to his hit song from this album called Thinking Out Loud. It is the first music video where he has the courage to appear in it.

He didn’t like how he looked on film but he did notice that his song sell better when he is in the film so, he is there a lot now. He is now a worldwide megastar. His fans and file sharing made him famous. He has written for other stars like Taylor Swift and   Justin Bieber. He also wrote songs for the Lord of the Rings movie series. He became big enough to fill Madison Square Garden three times. Because people said he couldn’t do it, he booked London’s 80,000   seat Wembley  Stadium  also for three nights and filled every seat there too. Scientists don’t like to hear from critics that they can’t do something either. The challenge just gives them fuel for their beliefs too. Ed then vanished for a year. He needed a break from the people and the partying that was making him become addicted to drugs.   

His new album is called Divide and the sales are great and show that his fans missed him. Was the break just a clever marketing ploy? Whatever the reason, Ed Sheeran is back and doing just fine.