Ed Sheeran’s grief
Ed Sheeran, the now 32-year old British singer-songwriter who took the world by storm in the past decade with a single acoustic guitar (and a loop station), has been through a lot in the past couple of years. He lost close friends, including Jamal Edwards, the groundbreaking music entrepreneur who helped launch his career — as well as Jessie J or Emeli Sandé’s. His wife Cherry was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor while pregnant with their second child. He’s been on trial for copyright infringement over a song he wrote that supposedly resembles a little too much one of Marvin Gaye’s classic tunes — according to the late musician’s deceased co-writer’s family. And these are just the headlines.
The good news first: Sheeran’s wife is now perfectly healthy, having given birth to their second daughter and having had a successful operation to take the tumor out — only after said birth occurred, that is. Meanwhile, last week, the musician won his trial, i.e. the jury found no basis to accuse him of infringing upon the ownership of a chord progression that can be found in thousands of other — lesser known — songs. And, finally, Edwards’ legacy has been celebrated by everybody of note in England, all the way to now king Charles III. The man remains deceased, and that is the point of all of this, but some of the pain could have somewhat been alleviated by this shared mourning.
Now the great news: from all of that grief came an album — and a documentary — which Sheeran also released last week. Talk about tremendous work ethic: aged 32 (only), married with 2 children, 6 studio albums under his belt, a number of record-breaking tours, all of that despite the Covid “pause” and this arguably singular series of soul-crushing events that came the artist’s way. Consequently, it is no surprise that this new offering is way more somber than its predecessors: answering Zane Lowe’s questions, Sheeran noted that his label thought of it as a break-up album… Well, it’s not: it is about a way bigger thing, and that thing is grief. Grief that the young man suffered, but also grief that we all went through in recent years — that Covid thing was no piece of cake — and grief many of us are facing every day, regardless our circumstances. At another point in the interview, Sheeran notes that, during one his worst moments in the past year, he was left listening to other people’s complaints, oblivious to his own pain. Even rock stars go through hurdles, lest we forget.
Speaking about his pal Edwards, Sheeran suddenly bursts into tears. And immediately adds that he hates crying on camera, because that is not what he wishes to show the world. Not because he is ashamed of it — he’s not — but because he doesn’t want to impose his own pain onto said world, which already has plenty as it is. Rock stars may go through hurdles, but they shouldn’t complain too much either when so many have it so much worse than them. And so the man is left walking that fine between displaying grief in a way that will be palatable to his audiences, meaning hopefully useful to them, without ever it feeling like over-sharing. And he does it well for a key reason: he tries to remain as honest, truthful and direct as he can be. Which is interesting coming from one of the biggest rock (or pop) stars on the planet.
Ed Sheeran is not only a fine musician and arguably one of the finest of his generation. He is also a refreshingly honest and open individual, one that subtly avoids playing rock star games, while also remaining graceful with his pain. This is arguably the sign of a new generation of public figures, who display a way fuller picture of themselves to audiences who appreciate the honesty. And can somewhat learn from it.