Ed Sheeran Is ‘Super Proud’ of Harry Styles for Becoming the ‘Biggest Solo Artist in the World’

Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles‘ friendship dates back to the early 2010s, when they were both laying the groundwork for their music careers. And according to Sheeran, it’s been incredible to be on the journey to success while being friends with Styles as they’ve grown so much in the past few years, he shared in a Tuesday (May 16) appearance on The Sprout Podcast.

“There’s something about going through your formative years, you know like it’s quite weird. Like, he’s obviously, like, on top of the world right now and has gone from being in the biggest boy band in the world to then being the biggest solo artist in the world,” Sheeran explained. “And it’s just it’s an amazing journey to see. I’m, like, really, like super, super proud of him.”

Sheeran’s friendship with Styles dates back to before he had commercial success — the “Thinking Out Loud” singer would sleep on a friend’s couch and would sometimes wake up to find Styles sleeping on a different sofa at the same place. Sheeran would go on to pen songs for One Direction, including “Moments,” “Little Things,” “Over Again” and “18”; the pair also have multiple friendship tattoos.

Sheeran compared his relationship with Styles to his friendship with Taylor Swift, adding, “It’s the same thing as Taylor, like, there’s rarely people that like totally understand you and I think both of them because they are solo artists and are at this level you kind of talk and there’s an understanding there that you don’t necessarily get from everyone.”

Listen to The Sprout Podcast in full below.