"My attitude is to try different things," Ed Sheeran remarked after throwing another musical curveball with 2014's x. "I don't really come from a generation where genres exist." That no doubt explains why the British singer/songwriter appears to have embraced practically every sound under the sun since his humble man-with-guitar beginnings.
From grime to Gaelic folk, Afrobeats to acoustic balladry, and post-hardcore to Punjabi pop, you name it and Sheeran has probably done it. It's an experimental streak that has served him well, too: By continually changing the vibes, he has impressively maintained pop-cultural relevance amid an audience forever hungry for the next big thing.
In fact, the prolific star has barely left the charts since scoring the first of seven consecutive UK No. 1 albums with his 2011 debut, +; four of those LPs have also topped the Billboard 200. Then there's the career sales of more than 200 million, the four GRAMMYs (and 17 nominations), and at one point, the highest-grossing concert tour in music history. Little wonder, therefore, that earlier this year Time magazine named Sheeran as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
And the Suffolk native still has ambitions to better his remarkable stats. After appearing to surrender his dominance with a brace of acoustic, downbeat affairs with 2023's -, along comes his eighth LP, Play (due Sept. 12), which he has dubbed a return to "big pop." And unsurprisingly, Play has little interest in staying in one musical lane.
Taking cues from around the world and across his timeless discography, the eagerly-awaited album has been self-described as "the most exciting thing that I've done as an artist so far, and it completely draws a line under everything that I've done." And from the skyscraping pop of "Camera" to the foot-stomping folk of "Old Phone" and cross-cultural smashes he unveiled before Play's release, such talk appears to be wholly justified.
As Sheeran releases Play, here's a look at how his previous body of work has established him as the most chameleonic man in pop.
The Grime Enthusiast
It seems hard to imagine now, but there was a time when Sheeran was very much the scrappy underdog forced to sofa surf while playing every open mic night within a 100-mile radius. The troubadour also managed to store up enough pennies to hit the studio, self-funding a collection of five extended plays solely designed to attract big label attention.
2010's Loose Change, a set recorded at South London's The Bedford, and a collection of intimate folk songs recorded with fellow singer/songwriter Amy Wadge all helped to spread word of mouth, with Elton John and Jamie Foxx serving as unlikely champions. However, it was No.5 Collaborations Project that propelled Sheeran to his intended destination.
Blending the beats and rhymes of Britain's flourishing grime scene with the classic singer/songwriter tradition, the star-studded affair (Ghetts, Devlin and Wiley were just a few of the MCs who helped to boost the small-town redhead's street credentials) introduced his talents to a whole new audience. And he's often dipped his toes back into its murky waters, guesting on tracks by Wretch 32, Sway and Giggs, and roping in its biggest exponent, Stormzy, on the A-list follow-up No. 6 Collaborations Project.
The Sensitive Singer/Songwriter
Kickstarting his penchant for naming albums after mathematical symbols, 2011 debut + emphatically took Sheeran's career to the next level, topping the UK charts, spawning five hit singles, and leading to GRAMMY nominations for Best New Artist and Song Of The Year for his breakthrough single, "The A Team."
Combining folksy melodies with simple acoustics and a rhythmic way with words ("But lately her face seems/ Slowly sinking, wasting/ Crumbling like pastries"), the latter's busker-like qualities masked how it was, in fact, the supremely dark tale of a homeless, heroin-addicted prostitute. And the likes of "Small Bump," a heartfelt ballad inspired by the tragedy of a friend's stillborn baby, and "Lego House," a metaphorical love letter buoyed by a promo featuring Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, continued to place him in the same vein of sensitive songwriter as his own musical idol Damien Rice.
Although Sheeran went on to explore all kinds of other musical avenues, he's regularly returned to his early signature sound, most notably with tributes to his grandparents (x's "Afire Love"), other half Cherry Seaborn (÷'s "How Would You Feel (Paean)"), and first-born daughter Lyra (='s "Sandman").
The Party-Starting Hitmaker
Sheeran surprised everyone when he teamed up with Pharrell Williams for a slice of falsetto-led funk influenced by Justin Timberlake's solo reinvention with 2014's x. And there was plenty more where party-starting single "Sing" came from, too, on a sophomore set that also boasted the talents of hitmaker Benny Blanco, Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin, and drum and bass outfit Rudimental. In fact, the latter's contribution to x, "Bloodstream," was inspired by an Ibizan wedding during which Sheeran had tripped on MDMA.
The Brit has often since aimed to send fans hurtling toward the dance floor. ÷'s "Shape of You," for example, cleverly capitalized on the burgeoning scene coined tropical house. ='s "Collide" adopted the Cristal champagne-soaked beats of the early '00s garage scene, while he's also guested on summery bangers by Fuse ODG ("Boa Me") and Camila Cabello ("Bam Bam") — the latter the kind of Latin pop affair you could imagine soundtracking a samba on "Dancing with the Stars."
Of course, Sheeran has been just as effective when it comes to bringing all the celebrations to a close. ='s orchestral waltz "The Joker and the Queen" harks back to the days when clubs ended with a slow dance, while x's Song Of The Year GRAMMY winner "Thinking Out Loud," an even more romantic number channeling the blue-eyed soul of Van Morrison, has become a walk-down-the-aisle favorite.
The Genre Blender
Sheeran's third album, ÷, was so dominant in the UK — all 12 songs (and its four deluxe edition cuts) graced the Top 20 in its first week of release — that the Official Charts Company were compelled to enforce a new three-track limit. It's little surprise the album appeared to multiply rather than divide the star's fan base. Indeed, there's something for everyone on a record that broke down genre barriers with a gleeful abandon.
From the widescreen stadium rock of "Castle on the Hill" and addictive Afrobeats of "Bibia Be Ye Ye" to the gospel-tinged "Perfect" and Celtic jig of "Galway Girl," Sheeran continually kept audiences guessing as to which musical direction he'd pursue next.
It was an approach he replicated on follow-up = to similarly winning effect. Lead single "Bad Habits" echoed the sparkling synth-pop pioneered by Bronski Beat (it was later treated to a drill remix by Fumez the Engineer and a heavy metal reworking with Bring Me the Horizon). "Be Right Now" upped the tempo even higher with some bubbling electro that recalled vintage Giorgio Moroder, while "Overpass Graffiti" provided the missing link between modern-day The Weeknd and mid-'80s Bruce Springsteen.
The Hip-Hop Collaborator
Sheeran had to pinch himself when he was invited by teenage hero Eminem to guest on the rapper's ninth album, 2017's Revival. The chart-topping success of "River" no doubt inspired a return-the-favor team-up on Sheeran's 2019 No.6 Collaborations Project, "Remember the Name."
The Real Slim Shady isn't the only rapper from across the pond to have recognized Sheeran's hip-hop prowess, though. Cardi B, Travis Scott and Young Thug also lent their talents to the project, and he's been tapped for collabs with The Game ("Roadside"), Rockie Fresh ("Are You With Me?") and Lupe Fiasco ("Old School Love").
However, Sheeran doesn't always need a big-name MC to bring the lyrical flow. Ever since his debut's self-aggrandizing "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" ("I sing fast, I know that all my s—'s cool/ I will blast, and I didn't go to Brit School"), he's been spitting bars with the best of them — see ÷'s autobiographical opener "Eraser" and diss track "New Man," or -'s "F64," the freestyle rap that paid respects to his late longtime friend Jamal Edwards. He also lays down some rhymes on Play's fourth single, "A Little More," a retro-soul affair co-written with socially-conscious rapper Dave.
The Indie Troubadour
Having spent a decade determined to outrun his peers to the top of the charts, Sheeran slowed things down for 2023's -, an intimate and deeply melancholic listen largely co-produced with The National's Aaron Dessner. He doubled down on the indie approach for follow-up Autumn Variations later that year, also recruiting Dessner's brother Bryce and releasing it through his own label, Gingerbread Man Records.
While Sheeran was no stranger to stripping things back, both records still had their USPs. - remains by far his most personal offering, addressing depression ("Boat"), the death of Edwards ("Eyes Closed"), and his wife's cancer scare ("Vega"), while Dessner's warm production added hints feedback, celestial synths and subtle strings to the usual acoustics.
Autumn Variations, meanwhile, not only dropped the math symbols, it delved deeper into the folk storyteller tradition while taking cues from early 20th century composer Edward Elgar. It was also the first Sheeran album that failed to produce a notable hit — its only single "American Town" only reached No. 27 in his homeland and missed the Billboard Hot 100 altogether. But it bookmarked a chapter that placed emphasis on craftsmanship rather than chart domination.
The Global Champion
Having previously worked with artists from Nigeria (Burna Boy), Argentina (Paolo Londra), and Colombia (J Balvin), Sheeran once again thought outside the usual transatlantic box for his eighth LP, Play, this time fixing his musical gaze toward the vibrant sounds of Asia.
Introduced to Persian music by Iranian-born Swedish producer Ilya Salmanzadeh, Sheeran asked a whole host of local musicians to play instruments such as the daf, ghatam and santoor on lead single "Azizam"; its entertaining video also throws the singer into the middle of a hectic Middle Eastern wedding. Third single "Sapphire" continued the cross-cultural theme, with Spotify's most-followed Indian artist, Arijit Singh, lending its Punjabi pop a sense of authenticity.
"In Western pop music, it can get quite stagnant and same-y and trend-following," Sheeran explained toTime about his latest sonic detour, another example of how the Brit refuses to rest on his creative laurels. While he may be considered the contemporary music scene's ultimate everyman, there's certainly nothing ordinary about his appetite for change.