Ed Sheeran is the latest pop star looking to embrace country music.
Following Beyoncé and Post Malone’s forays into the genre, the Shape Of You singer has revealed that he’s willing to completely throw himself into country, and shared his utmost respect for its stories and artists after living in Nashville.
Sheeran's potential entry into country music isn’t totally surprising. Aside from having a voice that works with basically any genre and playing acoustic instruments, he collaborated with Chris Stapleton on the 2019 song BLOW, is friends with Luke Combs, and expressed his interest in trying country music in 2023 (per Whiskey Riff).
In a new interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast, host Alex Cooper asked if Sheeran would ever release a country album. He responded, “I think there’s… yeah, I guess so. From living in Nashville, you can’t just dip your toe in. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it, and that’s it.”
He added, “I’ve made country songs in the past; they’ve just never come out. I have to do it properly, and once you transition to country, you can’t transition back. Once you’re there, you’re there.”
It seems that Sheeran's entry into country music isn’t just a “what if” situation but more of a “when will it happen” scenario.
Sheeran confirmed his interest in going there later in his career. “100%,” he said. “Nashville is like my favourite city in the States. It’s always been, like, my end goal.
“I’m going to move to Nashville and transition to country, but I think you just have to do it properly. It’s a genre you have to really respect, and it’s not just a dip in and out.”
You can watch the interview below.
Sheeran recently dropped the dance music-influenced single, Azizam, from his forthcoming album. He said of the Persian music-inspired number, “Even though it’s completely different to anything that I’ve ever done before, Azizam feels familiar to me.
“I wanted to create a party atmosphere in a song, and Ilya Salmanzadeh [Charli XCX, Ariana Grande, Sam Smith], who I worked with on the track, helped bring that to life. He was so inspiring to work with.”
Ed Sheeran last toured Australia—in stadiums—in February 2023. Check out The Music’s review of his show at Suncorp Stadium here.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
