Ed Sheeran is “really grateful” his music has reached so many people.
The 33-year-old singer is celebrating his debut single ‘The A Team’ hitting one billion streams and he loves the fact so many will have “different memories and emotions” that they associate with his work.
Ed took Spotify on a tour of his favourite places in Suffolk to mark the milestone as part of their ‘Billions Club: The Series’ and as he ate scampi and chips using one of his plaques as a plate on the beach, he said: “This is what England’s about. This is my go-to meal on a Friday. Seeing [the plaques] all laid out is pretty mad because it’s been 15 years of work.”
“Everyone uses music for different things and everyone has different memories and emotions connected to songs.
“I’m really grateful that my music has traveled so far and I get to sit here and eat fish and chips out of them.”
Among the spots Ed visited on his tour was his secondary school and Framlingham Castle, which inspired his song ‘Castle on the Hill’.
He said: “I loved growing up in Suffolk as a kid. You just sort of run wild.
“This hill is where me and my mates used to come as kids to roll down. And then we used to come as teenagers to drink cider and smoke.
“It doesn’t get more British than that castle.”
During a stop at Decoy Studios, the ‘Drunk’ hitmaker showed off various souvenirs and items of memorabilia, including a photo with wife Cherry Seaborn taken on a skiing trip.
He said: “Her family are big, big skiers so she taught me how to ski.”
The puppet from the ‘Happier’ music video also lives at the studios.
Ed laughed: “Basically, I was on tour and couldn’t shoot a music video so we used the puppet.”
And as well as the Ralph Lauren sweater he wore on his first video, his ‘Bad Habits’ video pink suit, his first guitar and the panda head from his ‘I Don’t Care’ collaboration with Justin Bieber, Ed also showed off a pair of Gucci sunglasses he received from his friend Sir Elton John.
He said: “My favourite artist ever is probably Elton John.
“I essentially dressed up as him in the ‘Shivers’ music video and he gave me a pair of glasses for it. How do I look? Does it suit me?”
Watch Ed on Spotify’s ‘Billions Club’ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-trtumErnk.