Wife’s pregnancy tumour left me in utter turmoil, says Ed Sheeran
ED Sheeran has revealed that his wife was diagnosed with a tumour while pregnant with their second child, leaving him ‘spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety’.
The singer-songwriter, 32, was also dealing with the death of his friend Jamal Edwards at the age of 31 as well as facing a High Court battle – which he ultimately won – after two songwriters claimed his 2017 hit Shape Of You infringed copyright of their song Oh Why.
The impact of all three experiences in a short space of time resulted in him scrapping a ‘decade’s worth of work’ on his new album Subtract as he tried to ‘make sense’ of his feelings.
‘I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs,’ he revealed in a handwritten diary excerpt from February last year that he shared on Instagram yesterday.
‘Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art... Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth.
‘My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.’
Sheeran and his childhood sweetheart Cherry Seaborn, 30, who he married in 2019, had second daughter Jupiter last May. They are also parents to Lyra, two.
The singer said he could not ‘credibly put a body of work into the world’ that didn’t ‘accurately represent’ how he was feeling and he used songwriting as ‘therapy’ to produce the new 14-track album in the space of a week.
He said: ‘It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time, I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my life.’
The album is due out on May 5. Sheeran did not disclose further details about Ms Seaborn’s health.