Ed Sheeran left his audience – and himself – in tears during an emotional performance of his new album Subtract .
The 32-year-old Shape Of You singer was performing for Apple Music Live when he broke down in tears as he introduced his new song, Eyes Closed.
‘This next song was inspired by Jamal,’ began Sheeran, in what is a touching few minutes of the singer getting extremely candid about his best friend Jamal Edwards’ death last year.
February 2022 was a horrendous time for Ed, as in the space of one month Edwards died from cardiac arrest aged 31, and the Thinking Out Loud singer’s wife, Cherry Seaborn, was diagnosed with a tumour while six months pregnant with their second child.
Opening up about what it was like to write an album with the backdrop of tragedy, the singer explained ‘When I write music it belongs to me, and when I release it it belongs to you guys.’
He continued, welling up: ‘The first time I played this song ever, I cried. I cried when I introduced it, I cried when I sang it, I cried at the end, and I’m going to cry now.’
The intimate audience gave a supportive cheer for Ed, as he rubbed his eyes dry with his hands, and then a towel, before he warned: ‘This will happen a lot in this gig.’
