Ed Sheeran on ‘horrible’ month: ‘Life hasn’t moved on for me yet’
Ed Sheeran is facing the kind of legal woes that would give you shivers in a copyright infringement trial over his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.”
In fact, the four-time Grammy winner admitted on Monday that he would be “done” if he’s found liable for ripping off Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
But even his current troubles don’t compare to a “horrible month” that the “Shape of You” singer-songwriter opens up about in “Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All,” a four-part Disney+ docuseries that premieres Wednesday.
While still reeling from his wife Cherry’s cancer diagnosis in February 2022, he was then shattered by the death of his best friend, British music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards, who helped launch his career.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get to February and be like, ‘This is a great month,’ ” says Sheeran, 32.
“That was a horrible, horrible month. Life hasn’t moved on for me yet, and I don’t actually think it will.”
It all started when a tumor discovered six months into Cherry’s pregnancy with their second child turned out to be cancerous.
“Cherry had gone to have her lump taken out, and I kept saying … that it was just a lump and not to worry, and that it was all good. And then [when] I was rehearsing, ‘I remember getting a call from [Cherry] being like, ‘Yeah, it’s not.’ ”
The initial prognosis was grim. “The doctor was basically like, ‘This is really bad,’ ” says Sheeran. “There were no treatment plans that worked with a six-month pregnancy.”
Sheeran coped with the crushing news by going on a songwriting spree, penning seven tunes in just four hours. Songs such as “Vega” — which will be featured on his new album “Subtract,” out Friday — came out of that dark place.
“This week was heavy/I buckled under all the weight/What can you do but pray?” he sings on “Vega.” “Need respite/Bleed time dry/She’ll be fine, she’ll be fine.”
Indeed, it turned out that the situation wasn’t as dire as they had thought, and Cherry could carry the baby to term before getting the tumor removed. But the day after receiving that good news, Edwards passed away suddenly at just 31.
For Sheeran, it was a “devastating” loss that rocked his world.
“I’d never been to a burial,” says Sheeran. “Suddenly someone hands you a shovel, and then suddenly you’re putting dirt on your mate’s grave, and it’s very, like, real. It’s very, very real.”
A shaken Sheeran had trouble processing the pain, feeling like he was “in a kinda chaotic storm where you’re just trying to stay level,” he says. “Like, I hadn’t really grown up until I felt grief. Loss — it just took over my life.”
Indeed, the stadium headliner — who will play MetLife June 10 and 11 — struggled to keep it together onstage.
“I was thinking, ‘I don’t want to cry in front of 78,000 people.’ ”