ED SHEERAN RELEASES HIS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW ALBUM ‘=’

LISTEN HERE

 

CONFIRMS NEW SINGLE ‘OVERPASS GRAFFITI’
WITH THE ACCOMPANYING OFFICIAL VIDEO SET TO LAUNCH AT
3PM SOUTH AFRICAN TIME TODAY AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:
WATCH HERE

 

UK TOUR SET FOR 2022
INCLUDING 5 X NIGHTS AT LONDON’S WEMBLEY STADIUM

 

5 X NOMINATIONS AT THIS YEAR’S MTV EMAS

‘ED SHEERAN’S MERRY CHRISTMAS GATHERING’

IN AID OF ED SHEERAN SUFFOLK MUSIC FOUNDATION

TAKING PLACE ON MONDAY 13^TH DECEMBER AT ST JOHN AT HACKNEY CHURCH, LONDON

 

Friday 29^th October –Ed Sheeran has released his brand-new album ‘=’ (Equals) listen here. In conjunction with the release, Ed is delighted to announce details of his new single ‘Overpass Graffiti’, which will be joined by an official video, premiering today at 3 pm SAST via YouTube watch here.

Written and produced by Sheeran, Johnny McDaid and Fred Gibson (the trio behind ‘Bad Habits’), ‘Overpass Graffiti’ – the third official single to be taken from Ed’s new album ‘=’ – is a heady, synth-rich ode to ’80s pop, and provides us with a wistful portrait of lost love as Ed soundtracks a past relationship. The official video – directed by Jason Koenig – explores the romanticism of living in the moment as we find Ed stranded in the desert in his dressing gown (!), before he embarks on an adventure with a newfound set of friends who he meets after hitching a ride.

Embracing Ed’s own truths, ‘=’ seamlessly captures both the intimate and everyday, elevating universal experiences to a higher plane. The fourth instalment in Sheeran’s symbol album series and a body of tracks that were made over a four-year period that followed his seminal ‘÷’ (Divide) album era, the new album finds Ed taking stock of his life and the people in it as he explores the varying degrees of love (‘The Joker And The Queen’, ‘First Times’, ‘2step’), loss (‘Visiting Hours’), resilience (‘Can’t Stop The Rain’) and fatherhood (‘Sandman’, ‘Leave Your Life’), while also processing his reality and career (‘Tides’).

Sonically, ‘=’ encapsulates Ed’s versatile musical palette, spanning signature, guitar-led tracks and world-class balladry to weightier, euphoric production moments, as first showcased on this summer’s emphatic, 2 x platinum comeback track, ‘Bad Habits’. Written and recorded across Suffolk, London, Sweden and LA, the album’s executive production comes from Ed Sheeran, FRED (No.6 Collaborations Project) and Johnny McDaid (Divide), with additional writing and/or production provided by Steve Mac, Joe Rubel, Amy Wadge, Foy Vance, Elvira Anderfjard, David Hodges, Andrew Watt, Lou Bell, Natalie Hemby and Ben Kweller. Sheeran’s brother, Matthew, a composer, also contributes stunning string arrangements on ‘First Times’ and ‘The Joker And The Queen’. The album artwork is a vivid collage of butterfly imagery symbolising the albums’ thread of ‘new life’ and is backdropped by one of Ed’s own abstract paintings.

Since his comeback in June, Sheeran has sat atop the charts worldwide, and in the UK, he spent a staggering 15 weeks at No.1 on the Official Singles Chart with his singles, ‘Bad Habits’ and ‘Shivers’. Moreover, with the help of his recent single releases, Ed achieved another milestone in the UK after becoming the first British Solo Artist to claim 52 weeks – a full year – at No.1 on the Official UK Singles Chart, with only Elvis Presley and The Beatles achieving more overall weeks at the top.

Ed Sheeran will embark on the first leg of his ‘+ – = ÷ x Tour’ (pronounced ‘The Mathematics Tour’) from April 2022, that’ll see him play across the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and Central Europe in 2022 (shows in other territories will be announced in due course). Later this year, Sheeran will play a special Christmas gig, ‘Ed Sheeran’s Merry Christmas Gathering in aid of Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation’, that’ll take place on Monday 13^th December at St John at Hackney Church, London. To be in with a chance to buy tickets, fans will need to buy Ed Sheeran’s new album, ‘=’, through his official store. Cut off is 4 pm BST on Wednesday 3^rd November and unique codes will be sent via email to everyone eligible on Monday 8^th November, with general sale commencing on Friday 12^th November.

‘=’ Official Tracklisting

1. Tides
2. Shivers
3. First Times
4. Bad Habits
5. Overpass Graffiti
6. The Joker And The Queen
7. Leave Your Life
8. Collide
9. 2step
10. Stop The Rain
11. Love In Slow Motion
12. Visiting Hours
13. Sandman
14. Be Right Now

2022 UK tour dates

MAY

Thurs 12^th                              UK                           Belfast                    Boucher Road Playing Fields

Fri 13^th                                   UK                           Belfast                    Boucher Road Playing Fields

Thurs 26^th                              UK                           Cardiff                    Principality Stadium

Fri 27^th                                   UK                           Cardiff                    Principality Stadium

Sat 28^th                                  UK                           Cardiff                    Principality Stadium

JUNE 2022

Thurs 2^nd                                UK                           Sunderland           Stadium of Light

Fri 3^rd                                      UK                           Sunderland           Stadium of Light

Sat 4^th                                     UK                           Sunderland           Stadium of Light

Thurs 9^th                                UK                           Manchester          Etihad Stadium

Fri 10^th                                   UK                           Manchester          Etihad Stadium

Sat 11^th                                  UK                           Manchester          Etihad Stadium

Sun 12^th                                 UK                           Manchester          Etihad Stadium

Thurs 16^th                              UK                           Glasgow                 Hampden Park

Fri 17^th                                   UK                           Glasgow                 Hampden Park

Fri 24^th                                   UK                           London                  Wembley Stadium

Sat 25^th                                  UK                           London                  Wembley Stadium

Weds 29^th                              UK                           London                  Wembley Stadium

Thurs 30^th                              UK                           London                  Wembley Stadium

JULY 2022

Fri 1^st                                      UK                           London                  Wembley Stadium

For more information, please contact ayanda.mnguni@warnermusic.com

About Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is an era-defining artist who has sold over 45 million albums and 150 million singles across the world. Through his fusion of thought-provoking songwriting, universal pop and multi-genre influence, his rich tapestry is not only perfectly suited to his audience but it’s something that transcends generations.

Since surfacing on the UK circuit in 2010 with his ‘No.5 Collaborations Project’ – an eight-track EP featuring his favourite grime artists of the time – the Suffolk-raised recording artist has resonated with fans across the world through his peerless songcraft and versatility. And now, with four UK No.1 albums to his name – ‘+’ (2011), ‘x’ (2014), ‘÷’ (2017) and ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’ (2019) – Sheeran has released his highly-anticipated new album ‘=’; a body of work that has already reaped two UK No.1 singles in ‘Bad Habits’ and ‘Shivers’, tracks that saw him spend a staggering 15 consecutive weeks at No.1 in the UK.

Most notably, Ed’s 2017 blockbuster release, ‘÷’ (Divide), saw Ed reign supreme as one of the most in-demand pop stars on the planet – a feat he has continued to sustain ever since. Crowned as the fastest-selling album, ever, by a male artist in the UK, the chart-shattering album housed a swarm of singles including ‘Castle on the Hill’, ‘Perfect’ and ‘Shape of You’, with the latter becoming Spotify’s most-streamed song of all time.

But it’s not just his recorded music that’s seen the former Glastonbury headliner and 2021 GQ Solo Artist of the Year become one of the sought-after artists of the 21^st century either. Possessing a mystical ability to turn 90,000 capacity venues into the pub back-rooms that he first started playing in, Ed made history in 2015 after becoming the first-ever artist to play Wembley Stadium solo – without a band and with just his guitar and loop pedal – over three, consecutive sold-out nights. Move forward to the summer of 2019 and Ed would re-enter history books after the completion of his mammoth two-year Divide tour, officially becoming the most-attended tour of all time after it culminated with special homecoming shows in Ipswich, Suffolk.

Ed Sheeran – who was awarded an MBE for his services to music and charity in 2017 – is the proud recipient of 1 x IFPI Award (best-selling global artist of 2017); 4 x Grammys; 4 x Ivor Novello’s; 6 x BRIT Awards (including two consecutive wins for ‘Global Success’ in 2018 and 2019); 7 x Billboard Awards + more.

At the end of 2019, Sheeran was presented with the Official Chart Company’s first-ever ‘No.1 Artist of the Decade’ award following a host of accomplishments in his native UK including the most No.1’s across the UK’s Official Singles and Albums chart from the years 2010-2019. Most recently, Ed scored another feat with the OCC after becoming the first British Solo Artist to claim 52 weeks – an entire year – at No.1 on the Official UK Singles Chart, with only Elvis Presley and The Beatles achieving more overall weeks at the top.