Sheeran nets £39m in a year... thanks to a £400 pedal board

SINGER Ed Sheeran’s global tour has made him £39million in just 12 months... thanks largely to a £400 pedal board he helped invent.

His Divide tour raked in around £340million in ticket sales across 53 cities and 94 shows.

Ticket sales were nearly double the number shifted by top American singer Taylor Swift, 29, the highest paid entertainment star in 2016.

The star from Suffolk was able to make such huge personal profits as he mostly performs solo with just a guitar and his invention – a loop pedal.

Other stars take a huge entourage of musicians and technical support around the world with them, reducing personal income.

But the pedal board allows Sheeran to feed in short bursts of live percussion, guitar and vocals on continuously repeating loops while he performs alone.

Sheeran and his team of technicians created the Chewie II Monsta Looper machine, allied to a computer-controlled mixer, so he could perform without a backing band.

The full system cost thousands but is operated by Sheeran alone using a series of foot pedals, giving him complete control over his on stage performance.

Sheeran, 27, has so far paid himself £17.5million from the tour takings but there is still almost £26million left in the pot which he can withdraw whenever he likes.

The figure of £39million was “live performance income” and it is not thought to include profits from merchandise like T-shirts and posters.

Accounts filed for his company, Nathan Cable Touring LLP, show the musician’s profits rocketed up from £1.4million the previous year.

The figures cover the year to March 31, 2018, the first stage of the tour in Asia, the US and Europe.

Sheeran has sold 4,860,482 tickets. A pop business source said: “Ed loves touring and that passion of playing live is why so many people want to see him.”

He dwarfed the sales of other hit performers like rapper Jay Z, 49, singer Pink, 39, and Bruno Mars.

His tickets were also priced at an average of around £39.40 – far cheaper than prices charged by rival Ed Sheeran on stage in 2018 in Wales and, left, the singer operating the Chewie II foot pedals to feed in backing sounds. Inset below, US singer Taylor Swift, whose annual income has hit £140m when she tours

singers such as American star Mars, 33 – making Sheeran’s financial achievement even greater.

Sheeran was named the best-selling and most streamed artist worldwide in 2017 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

Max Lousada, boss of Sheeran’s record company, Warner, said last year: “Ed is truly an incredible songwriter, vocalist and performer.

“His ability to tell stories and make people feel is what stands him out from the crowd.

“He’s always had a totally authentic connection with his fans, something he places over everything else.”