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On tonight’s episode of Saturday Night Live, the Grammy-nominated Ed Sheeran performs as the musical guest while Seth Rogen hosts the show. Let’s get to know Sheeran a little better with these 5 Fast Facts.
1. Sheeran Used to Sing in the Church Choir
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Sheeran used to sing in the local church choir at age four and up. Later, he learned guitar and started writing songs at high school. According to Wikipedia:
His early childhood memories include listening to Van Morrison on his trips to London with his parents and going to an intimate Damien Rice gig in Ireland when he was eleven. He is a patron of the Youth Music Theatre UK. He was accepted at the National Youth Theatre as a teenager.
2. Taylor Swift Is Sheeran’s Best Friend
Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift have made music together, toured with one another and are really good friends. Check out the above video as Sheeran dishes on his friendship with the girl he calls “Swiftie.”
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Sheeran has not only written music with Taylor Swift, he’s also done the same for her ex-boyfriend Harry Styles and the rest of the One Direction boys. In fact, he became quite friendly with the band, but Swift didn’t seem phased.
Best day EVER. Disney with my friendssssss!!! @edsheeran @Mallauri @Scott_Myrick pic.twitter.com/v94A66Pbbo
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 12, 2013
3. His Next Album Is Due Out This Summer
My 2nd album 'x' or 'multiply' is now available for pre order here – http://t.co/dyE9OcOLtb
— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) April 11, 2014
His second album is titled “X,” read as “Multiply”, and is set for a worldwide release on June 23, 2014. He debuted the album track, “Tenerife Sea”, at Madison Square Garden in October 2013 and “Sing”, the lead single, was released on April 7, 2014.
In a sad, but very touching story, this month, Sheeran sang over the phone for a 15-year-old fan dying from complications of cystic fibrosis. She died in her sleep minutes later. Her name was Triona Priestly and when her friends realized she had little time left, several of them began tweeting #SongForTri to try to get Ed Sheeran’s attention. They were hoping to lift the sick teen’s spirits … The Independent describes the night as this:
Four-and-a-half hours later the students reckon they had amassed some 40,000 tweets. At 11.30pm parents ushered the reluctant teenagers home to rest. They awoke the next morning to news of success … Early on Monday morning Sheeran replied to the hashtag asking what it was his fans needed. Impressively he tweeted Lucy that he would get it sorted. He just needed to know what they wanted. He tweeted @Trionaaa ‘Get Well Soon dude, I’ll see you when I’m over in October xxx’. But the importance of time weighed heavily upon her friends.
"@foley_erica: Oh my god that is the sweetest thing ever #songfortri @edsheeran pic.twitter.com/8mUb5aThA4" @edsheeran thank you x
— Charlene O'Reilly (@charlopie) April 1, 2014
Sheeran sang his song “Little Bird” to Priestly and she passed away shortly after at peace.
4. Jamie Foxx Initially Spotted Sheeran at a The Foxxhole
Ed Sheeran was discovered by Elton John and Jamie Foxx wow
— Will Philliamson (@Philcanread) April 7, 2014
In the spring of 2010, Sheeran flew to Los Angeles with no contacts in the industry and played open mic nights all over the city. Wikipedia writes that one night:
He was spotted at The Foxxhole by Jamie Foxx, who was so impressed that he offered Sheeran the use of his recording studio and the run of his Hollywood home for the rest of his stay. Throughout 2010, Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew, with him also getting credit from The Independent newspaper, England football captain Rio Ferdinand and Elton John.
Even before he was famous, Sheeran had the backing of Hollywood elite.
5. Sheeran Participated in the Beatles’ 50th Anniversary Show
Sheeran beautifully sang the song “In My Life” at the 50th anniversary tribute show for The Beatles. Have a look at his fantastic performance.
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Ed Sheeran: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know