By: Esha Bagora

Public Relations Manager

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has had an action-packed spring so far. He dropped his latest album on May 5, Subtract, which debuted at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales Chart, and he will begin his international tour at the end of May. His spectacular album release was barely overshadowed by his recent legal win against the owners of Marvin Gaye’s music catalogue, who brought a copyright infringement case against him for allegedly copying his Grammy-winning song Thinking Out Loud from Gaye’s Let’s Get it On. 

Gaye’s estate filed the case against Sheeran for allegedly stealing a four-chord combination and incorporating it into Thinking Out Loud, forcing Sheeran to perform Thinking Out Loud and other hit songs in court to prove how common the chord combination is. When the prosecution pulled up a video, prior to the lawsuit, of Sheeran performing a mashup of Thinking Out Loud and Let’s Get it On, Sheeran notably said, “If I had done what you’re accusing me of doing I’d be quite an idiot to stand on stage in front of 25,000 people.” Eventually, after a three-hour long jury deliberation, the Manhattan jury ruled in favor of Sheeran and stated that his song was his original creation. During the case, Sheeran mentioned that he would quit his music career if he had lost, and on behalf of myself and the rest of his fanbase, the Sheerios, I am grateful to that jury for finding Sheeran’s work to be original. 

Following this victory, Sheeran kicked off his North American tour for his new album Subtract. From Mar. 23 to Apr. 2, Sheeran performed smaller shows across Europe to soft launch his album, and he announced his North American tour on Apr. 23. His new album, the star of the + – = ÷ × tour, also referred to as Mathematics, covers Sheeran’s fragile emotions as he goes through different life changes. It debuted at No. 1 on over 13 international charts and features songs with American artists such as Luke Combs. 

Sheeran and Combs performed together at the Academy of Country Musics  awards, and Sheeran continues to bring top artists along on his tour. Other artists like Khalid, Russ, Dylan, Cat Burns, Maisie Peters, and Rosa Linn plan to open Sheeran’s shows during the North American tour. Sheeran’s musical journey is also available as a four-part Disney+ documentary. Titled The Sum of It All, this documentary features Sheeran’s general life journey as well as how Eminem helped him overcome his stutter.

(Source: NPR)