Before Ed Sheeran’s meteoric rise to fame, it’s fair to say he put in some graft.
The 31-year-old superstar has sold more than 150 million records across the globe, broken world touring records, worked with Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Eminem and even shared the stage with Beyonce herself.
But the Grammy-winning West Yorkshire singer had fairly humble beginnings – he busked in the streets as a teenager, couch surfed in London and played more than 300 gigs in 2009 alone before he had his big break.
Hit single The A-Team was a tribute to a woman he met while volunteering at a homeless shelter.
Since then, he has been inundated with accolades, including an MBE for his music career and charity work, and was crowned Songwriter of the Year at the 2022 BRIT Awards.
That all came after an early television appearance in 2011 on STV magazine show The Hour.
Hosts Michelle McManus and Stephen Jardine heaped praise on Sheeran, then 19, and told him he was “already well on his way” to music stardom.
“It’s a good time to be alive, it’s been going really well,” he told the hosts.
“I’ve done a lot of stuff. I started as a guitar tech and learned the tricks of the trade. Moved up to London, started sofa surfing, playing gigs in London and got asked on a few tours with Just Jack and Example.
“I started printing CDs and selling them. It all came to a head in January – one of my CDs ended up charting quite high independently, I signed a deal and I’m here now.
“Amazing feedback I’ve been having from people like that, being able to do the Jools Holland show and have Zane Lowe do a session has been amazing, really, really fun.”
The so-called ‘nicest guy in pop’ even shouted out Michelle McManus in front of thousands at his sell-out Hampden show in 2018.
“I’ve got so many great memories up here, I even did my first TV performance here on this show that Michelle McManus was hosting,” he told the crowd.
The singer is taking the first leg of his ‘+ – = ÷ x’ tour – pronounced ‘mathematics’ – to Hampden on Thursday, June 16 and Friday, June 17.
ScotRail have warned fans face a disrupted journey back to Central and Queen Street stations, with no rail services from Mount Florida after the gig and limited onward routes available thereafter.
The last train from Mount Florida to Glasgow Central will call at 8.46pm on both Thursday and Friday.
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