Plus, he’s got a new hit with Taylor Swift and has performed for the Queen. But he’s still just a sweet, humble guy.
Via: Mike Coppola / Getty Images
You probably know a little bit about Ed Sheeran by now — he's the 22-year-old ginger singer-songwriter championed into stardom not only by the fervent adoration of Swifties and Directioners, but also on the strength of his own unwavering determination (before making it big, he once tried to play a show every day for a year).
Nowadays, he's able to count people like Sir Elton John, with whom he sang his hit "The A Team" at the 2013 Grammy Awards, collaborator and tour mate Taylor Swift, Bill Clinton, and none other than the Queen of England as fans. BuzzFeed sat down with him at the launch of the guitar he designed for Martin to benefit East Anglia's Children's Hospices.
Did you ever consider becoming anything other than a musician?
Ed Sheeran: I think to be successful at anything you have to put in a hell of a lot of effort. Pick your battles. I picked music, put in a lot of effort, and it's worked. I used to do a bit of acting. With music, you could stick someone with a musical instrument or even not a musical instrument, get them to showcase their talent, and within 30 seconds you could tell whether they were good or not, but with acting you have to give them the right part. If De Niro didn't have Mean Streets or Taxi Driver, he might not have gotten Raging Bull.
It's a weird thing. There are loads of actors out there that are probably brilliant who have never gotten the right part. They haven't been showcased on that level. With music, you say, "I do this," and someone will be able to tell you whether it's good or not. I think that would stop me from doing acting and art. I really don't know what's good or bad art because all the art I like people tell me is tasteless. I bought some pictures.
I'm really into graffiti artists. Not like Banksy…there's this drum and bass guy named Goldie who does these pictures where he'll spray paint this thing… He does it with particular people. He'll take you and spray paint you, exactly you, on wood and he'd cut up the wood and then burn it all on different sides and put it back together and lacquer it and spray it again.
Have you done graffiti yourself?
ES: I used to get drunk in venues after my shows and sign the walls "Ed was here." So if you see that, it was me.
Where is your favorite place on tour and where is your least favorite?
ES: I haven't found a least favorite yet, but I haven't been to every single country so I'm sure there will be a point where I'm like, "This sucks." It's a really cool job. My favorite place would be Australia. My first arena tour was Australia and it was just an amazing experience… being there and the interviews and the interaction with the people and playing these huge venues.
