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1. TRACKING AN ARTIST – ED SHEERAN
Siobhan Arnold

2. LIFE AND CAREER
1991–2004: Early life
Ed Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire but moved to Framlingham, Suffolk as
a child. His father, John Sheeran, is an art curator and lecturer. His mother, Imogen
Lock, is a culture publicist turned jewellery designer.His parents ran the
independent art consultancy, Sheeran Lock, from 1990 to 2010. Sheeran has an
older brother, Matthew, who is a classical composer and postgraduate music
student. Sheeran's paternal grandparents were Irish as were his maternal parents,
and he was raised as a Roman Catholic. He sang in a local church choir from the age
of four, learned guitar at a very young age, and began writing songs during his time
at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham. His early childhood memories
include listening to Van Morrison on his countless trips to London with his parents
and going to an intimate Damien Rice gig in Ireland when he was eleven. He is a
patron of the Youth Music Theatre UK. He was accepted at the National Youth
Theatre as a teenager.
2005–2010: Career beginnings
Sheeran began recording in 2005, and released his first independent EP, The Orange Room EP.
Sheeran also released one album titled +. He moved to London in 2008, and began playing
in very small venues. In 2008, he auditioned for the ITV series Britannia High. He also
opened for Nizlopi in Norwich in April 2008 after being one of their guitar technicians. In
2009, Sheeran played 312 gigs. He recalls reading an interview with James Morrison that
said that Morrison had done 200 gigs in a year, and Sheeran wanted to surpass that
number.He released another EP in 2009, You Need Me, just before going on tour with Just
Jack. He also did a few collaborations with Essex singer-songwriter Leddra Chapman,
including Cee Lo Green's F*** You. In February 2010 Sheeran posted a video through
SB.TV, and mainstream rapper Example invited Sheeran to tour with him. In February
2010, he also released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his later
debut single "The A Team".

3. 
On 26 April, Sheeran appeared on the TV music show
Later... with Jools Holland – where he performed his
debut single "The A Team". Six weeks later, "The A
Team" was released as a digital download in the UK.
The release served as the lead single from Sheeran's
debut studio album, entitled +. "The A Team" entered
the UK Singles Chart at number three, selling over
58,000 copies in the first week. It was the best selling
debut single and the overall eighth-best selling single
of 2011, shifting 801,000 copies. The lead single also
became a top ten hit in Australia, Germany, Ireland,
Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway and the
Netherlands. During a headline set in the BBC
Introducing tent at Glastonbury Festival 2011, Sheeran
announced that "You Need Me, I Don't Need You"
would be released on 28 August as the second single
from the album. The second single peaked at number
four on the UK Singles Chart. "Lego House" was
released as the third single, reaching the top ten on
Australian, Irish, Scottish, New Zealand Singles
Charts, Flemish Ultratop 50 and the Wallonian Ultratip.
"Drunk", released on 19 February 2012, became
Sheeran's fourth consecutive top ten single in the UK,
peaking at number nine.