Ed Sheeran eyes “transition into country” music, shares new version of ‘Life Goes On’ with Luke Combs
Ed Sheeran could one day make the jump to country music, according to a new interview and a new collaboration with Luke Combs.
While in Texas for the Academy of Country Music awards, Sheeran revealed in a new interview with Billboard that he would “love to transition into country,” adding that he speaks to his wife about the idea “all the time”.
“I love the culture of it, I just love the songwriting. It’s just like brilliant songs,” Sheeran explained.
Having lived in Nashville, Texas across two periods in 2013 and 2018, Sheeran told Billboard that he is inspired by local songwriters: “It’s like a community. There’s not really a place in Europe where you could point and say, ‘That’s the home of songwriting,’” he says. “It’s not just for country music. Nashville is just a hub of incredible songwriters, incredible performers. And I really felt inspired just being there being around everyone.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he also shared that he would not have paid much attention to the genre if it hadn’t been for Taylor Swift: “I’d never really listened to country music as a kid growing up. It was only being on Taylor’s Red tour and living in Nashville and her basically introducing me to that side of it.”
Sheeran has also shared a new version of ‘Life Goes On’, this time featuring country singer Luke Combs. The pair also performed the track at the ACM Awards on Thursday, May 11.
Ed Sheeran most recently released his lates album ‘-‘ (‘Subtract’) on May 5. The record scored a three-star review from NME‘s Nick Levine, who wrote: “Most of ‘-’ is doggedly one-paced, an often drawback of Dessner’s mellow production stylings. If it becomes a little samey in places, it could be argued that this is an authentic representation of the mental health issues Sheeran was working through at the time. Certainly, some of his lyrical refrains – breaking waves, falling tears – add to the impression that ‘-‘ is an unfiltered snapshot of this artist’s mindset at an especially low ebb.”
The album has since gone on to become the fastest-selling album of 2023, meaning it may mark a sixth consecutive Number One album for the singer-songwriter.
According to the Official Charts Company, ‘Subtract’ has already collected over 56,000 chart units, which is more than any other album that was released this year. Lana Del Rey’s ‘Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.’ previously held the record with 41,000 chart units during its first week.
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Surej Singh
NME
