Ed Sheeran Reflects on ‘Heavy Stuff’ That Inspired His New Album ‘Subtract’: Exclusive

Ed Sheeran is opening up his world with the new docuseries Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All, this week, and Billboard has an exclusive clip ahead of the Wednesday (May 3) premiere.

The preview shows the pop star collaborating in the studio with The National’s Aaron Dessner on what will become – (Subtract) as he explains via confessional the multitude of hardships that hit his wife Cherry Seaborn, his best friend Jamal Edwards and him all in the space of a single month.

“I was hit by heavy stuff kind of one after the other,” the hitmaker explains. “They found a tumor in Cherry’s arm, the diagnosis wasn’t good and, ya know, she’s pregnant and I can’t do anything. And then suddenly I’m in this three-week court case. And then, um…Jamal dies.

“The moment you find out that the worst thing in the world has happened to someone that you truly love with all your heart, you feel like you’re drowning and can’t get out from under it,” Sheeran continues. “Just from that situation, all of these songs came out.”

The British singer-songwriter then goes on to record his new song “Boat,” which was released as the second single from his forthcoming album Subtract, with just an acoustic guitar.

The four-part docuseries will arrive on Disney+ on Wednesday, just two days before Subtract‘s Friday release. The studio set will complete Sheeran’s long-planned sequence of five mathematically themed albums, which began with his 2011 debut + (Plus) followed by 2014’s x (Multiply), 2017’s ÷ (Divide) and 2021’s = (Equals).

Watch Billboard’s exclusive preview of Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All below.