Charming Sheeran’s famous friends

HIS IS a little black book that rivals some of society’s most prolific networkers. Sir Elton John, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Princess Beatrice and Courteney Cox are among those he counts as friends. So how has 25-year-old Ed Sheeran, a middle-class boy from Suffolk, England, managed to attract such a glamorous nexus of pals?

This is a future that Sheeran, now a £40 million (R703m)superstar, didn’t envisage as he grew up in Framlingham, singing in the church choir.

He played 300 gigs a year while seeking his breakthrough and slept on Tube trains before hitting the big time in 2011. He has since won numerous Brit and Grammy awards for his songs, which include Thinking Out Loud and Sing.

So who are the “Sheerios”, Ed’s many best mates, and how on earth do they all know him?

Sir Elton John is akin to his musical father figure. Indeed, much of his career has flourished under John’s tutelage.

An early fan of Sheeran’s music, John signed him to his own management company, Rocket Music, in 2011.

Sheeran had been friendly with Beyoncé since both played at a Stevie Wonder tribute at the Grammys in 2015, and then she turned up with Jay-Z at one of his gigs.

Sheeran said: “I didn’t really know what they’d be up for, so I was like: ‘My mate owns a divebar if you want to go and do some shots.’ ” So successful was their night that it concluded with the three happily singing folk songs together.

Samuel L Jackson, the 67-year-old Pulp Fiction star, first saw Sheeran at a gig in London in late 2014, later ecstatically writing on Twitter: “#O2 Arena edsheeran! This is da real deal!!”

One Direction’s Harry Styles has been best buddy with Sheeran since he was hired as one of the band’s songwriters.

Of all his famous friends, perhaps the deepest relationship is with Taylor Swift, the 26-year-old globe-conquering singer-writer.

Their connection was pretty much immediate, and Sheeran explains: “We were both the uncool kids. We’re outsiders who found solace in music.” Both insist there has never been a romantic connection.

Ed has been bosom buddies with Friends actress Courteney Cox, 52, for about four years. They met after he was invited to a party at her house and he ended up living in a summer house in her garden for several months.

Sheeran laughs off his famous landlady, saying his stay was “rent-free, yeah, but I did make the tea”.