Ed Sheeran topped the UK music charts with his latest album, the critically acclaimed Subtract, on Friday following a backdrop of challenging life events.
The singer-songwriter’s sixth studio album, went straight to no. 1, extending his ‘flawless run of chart-topping albums’, the Official Charts Company said.
Subtract was written during a difficult year which saw his wife Cherry Seaborn diagnosed with a tumour while pregnant, the death of his close friend Jamal Edwards and a copyright battle over his 2017 hit Shape Of You.
The record is the fastest-selling album of 2023 so far, shifting 76,000 chart units in its opening week, with nearly three-quarters made up of physical copies, it was also the best-selling vinyl album of the week.
Ed has said he used the album to channel the intense emotions which emerged from this difficult time, describing the songwriting process as his ‘therapy’.
Congratulations: Ed Sheeran topped the UK music charts with his latest album, the critically acclaimed Subtract, on Friday following a backdrop of challenging life events
After it topped the charts, the Official Charts Company added: ‘Subtract also sees Ed edge ahead of The 1975 in the list of acts to have reached the summit with all of their studio albums, now boasting six to the latter’s five.’
During an intimate show with Apple Music Live at the Eventim Apollo in London on Wednesday, the singer dedicated two songs to the his late friend Jamal as he discussed his grief and revealed: ‘I’m still not over it, I don’t want to be.’
Ed was left heart-broken, battling depression after his friend’s shock death explaining how he wished everyone would stand still ‘like when the Queen died.’
As he addressed the audience ahead of Eyes Closed and Life Goes On, Ed began: ‘The last time I was in this venue was with my friend Jamal, to see a comedy show, and I’ve not been here since.
‘The first time I ever played this song, I cried when I introduced it, I cried at the start, I cried at the end and… I’m going to cry now.’
Breaking down in tears he wipe his face with a towel and continued: ‘I found this very cathartic to put out.
‘I always say these songs are mine until I put them out there, and then they belong to you guys.
‘I felt like when the Jamal passed away that I wanted the world to just stop, like it did when the Queen died.’
No. 1: The singer-songwriter’s sixth studio album, went straight to no. 1, extending his ‘flawless run of chart-topping albums’, the Official Charts Company said
He continued: ‘I just didn’t feel ready and I still don’t really feel ready. Every one expects you to feel sad for a week or two and then everything carries on. But I’m still not over it, and I don’t want to be.’
The album’s lyrics give an insight into the depression and grief he has experienced in the last two years after the loss of his close friend Jamal, his wife Cherry’s health woes and a plagiarism court case.
In a recent interview Ed said the collection of new songs was a ‘trapdoor into his soul’ with many of the lyrics using maritime metaphors to explain his depression.
Highlights include his song Eyes Closed where in the music video he turns his grief into a huge blue monster.
Ed sadly lost his best friend Jamal last February. He was just 31 years of age when he died from cardiac arrest after alcohol and cocaine.
The Eyes Closed chorus includes lines such as: ‘Every song reminds me you’re gone, and I feel the lump form in my throat coz I’m here alone.’
As well as losing Jamal, his wife Cherry was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour when she was pregnant with their second child and was told she couldn’t have surgery on it until she gave birth.
Another song Boat delves further into his depression as he sings about ‘not knowing if his scars will heal’ while Life Goes On describes his mental health struggles as like ‘waves tumbling down around him.’
His success comes one week after winning a U.S. copyright trial over one of his biggest hits.
Ed was cleared of allegations his 2014 hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’ unlawfully copied Marvin Gaye’s 1973 song Let’s Get it On at Manhattan federal court – a verdict that he said would help protect the creative process for song writers globally.
He had previously threatened to quit the music industry if he was found guilty of ripping off Gaye’s classic love ballad.
Ed, who strongly denied the accusation his hit stole fundamental musical elements from Marvin’s song, had faced a £79million lawsuit brought by the heirs of the song’s co-writer, Ed Townsend.
But he heard a verdict that he was in the clear on Thursday after a jury comprised of three men and four women deliberated for less than three hours before reaching their decision.
Speaking outside the court, Ed – who is worth £158m – said: ‘I’m just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy. I am not and will not allow myself to be a piggy bank.’
Ed’s lawyer had said the case ‘should never have been brought’, and the singer staked his career on the outcome, saying during the case he would be ‘done’ with music if found guilty.
The copyright lawsuit was first brought in 2018 by the estate of the late Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 R and B classic with Gaye.
It said Ed and his co-writer Amy Wadge ‘copied and exploited, without authorization or credit,’ the composition of Let’s Get It On by copying various elements, including its ‘melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping’.
Ed said he missed his grandmother’s funeral in Ireland because of the trial, and that he ‘will never get that time back.’
Grief: Subtract was written during a difficult year which saw his wife diagnosed with a tumour while pregnant, the death of his close friend Jamal Edwards (pictured with Jamal)
Victorious: It comes after Ed was cleared of allegations his 2014 hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’ ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get it On’ at Manhattan federal court last week
The verdict capped a two-week trial that featured a courtroom performance by Sheeran as the singer insisted, sometimes angrily, that the trial was a threat to all musicians who create their own music.
A year ago, Ed won a U.K. copyright battle over his 2017 hit ‘Shape of You’ and then decried what he labeled a ‘culture’ of baseless lawsuits that force settlements from artists eager to avoid a trial’s expense.
Outside court, Ed said he doesn’t want to be taken advantage of. ‘I am just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy,’ he said. ‘I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake.’
Thinking Out Loud was released in 2014 and won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
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