Chesney Hawkes rejected the chance to work with Ed Sheeran.
The 53-year-old singer recalled turning down the offer from his producing partner Jake Gosling to collaborate with the ‘Perfect’ chart-topper, 34, when the music mega star was just a budding artist because Chesney insisted he only worked with “A1” talent at the time.
Chesney told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “I’d do sessions for [Jake] and we’d be trying to get a song for someone like Kylie Minogue.
“He told me about this kid, Ed Sheeran, who was sleeping on his couch. Jake said, ‘Come and do a session.’ I said: ‘Ed who? I’m working with A1 now,’ like I was Mr big b*******.”
‘The One and Only’ hitmaker released his new album ‘Living Arrows’ on Friday (04.04.25), which has been in the making for years after being held up by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chesney described the LP as a “labour of love”, even if he wrote the track ‘Nobody Like You’ with Jake “in 20 minutes in the garden”.
The singer recounted: “We wrote ‘Nobody Like You’ in 20 minutes in the garden, then got the beers out.
“Jake said to me, ‘You’ve got to do an album now. That was so fun.’ It went from there.”
Also included on ‘Living Arrows’ is the song ‘The Meaning Of This’, which Chesney dedicated to his late friend and musician Kiersty Rouge – known as ‘Kiki’ – who took her own life in 2016.
He explained: “Kiki would stay with us when we worked together and she became a part of our family.
“Her death hit us so hard as a family. It took me a long time, but I knew I had a song in me for her.
“If you listen to ‘The Meaning Of This’, there’s a girl who does a little, wispy vocal. That is Kiki.”
Chesney also reflected on his ongoing UK tour with James Blunt, which the ‘Loud’ singer said gave the two artists the chance to “bond” over their supposed ‘One-Hit Wonder’ statuses.
He explained: “We bonded over what we have in common – people saying we’ve only got one song.
“We’re a little bit more self-effacing than a lot of artists.”
Even so, Chesney – who will be embarking on a solo tour across Europe soon – insisted his new tracks are proving to be popular amongst his fanbase.
He said: “It’s amazing that I play these new songs and they’re already singing them back to me!”