Egypt | Mohamed Salah Ghaly
| First name | Mohamed |
|---|---|
| Last name | Salah Ghaly |
| Nationality | Egypt |
| Date of birth | 15 June 1992 |
| Age | 27 |
| Country of birth | Egypt |
| Place of birth | Muḥafaẓat al Gharbiyya |
| Position | Attacker |
| Height | 175 cm |
| Weight | 71 kg |
| Foot | Left |
Prince Charles of England
BIRTHDAY
November 14, 1948
BIRTHPLACE
London, England
AGE
71 years old
BIRTH SIGN
Scorpio
About
Officially known as Charles, Prince of Wales, he is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history and the oldest heir apparent in 300 years. He was married to Diana, Princess of Wales from 1981 to 1996, then he married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005.
Before Fame
He broke tradition by attending Trinity College at Cambridge University for his secondary education rather than receiving a private education and joining the armed forces.
Trivia Info
The Scottish referred to him as the Duke of Rothesay and the Southern English knew him as the Duke of Cornwall; he became the longest serving heir-apparent in British history.
Family Life and Relationship
He is the former husband of Princess Diana, and his sons are Prince William and Prince Harry. He married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005.
- Prince Charles was born Charles Philip Arthur George on November 14, 1948, in London, England. The son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Charles ascended the royal hierarchy at an early age. His mother became queen when he was only three after the death of his grandfather King George VI in 1952.
Queen Elizabeth II
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Quotes:
Grief is the price we pay for love.The upward course of a nation’s history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women.It’s all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you’re properly trainedBio & Career stats:
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She celebrated 65 years on the throne in February 2017 with her Sapphire Jubilee.Who Is Queen Elizabeth II?
Queen Elizabeth II was born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on April 21, 1926, in London, to Prince Albert, Duke of York (later known as King George VI), and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947, became queen on February 6, 1952, and was crowned on June 2, 1953. She is the mother of Prince Charles, heir to the throne, as well as the grandmother of princes William and Harry. As the longest-serving monarch in British history, she has tried to make her reign more modern and sensitive to a changing public while maintaining traditions associated with the crown.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Health
At the end of 2016, concerns about the Queen’s health grew. The Queen was reported to have a “heavy cold” and missed several traditional holiday events, including Christmas and New Year’s services. “The Queen does not yet feel ready to attend church as she is still recuperating from a heavy cold,” the palace said in a statement. She made her first public appearance in January 2017 since taking ill. At that time it was also announced that she would be cutting the number of charities of which she is a patron in an effort to reduce her work obligations.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Husband
Queen Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten (a surname adopted from his mother’s side) in the autumn of 1947. Elizabeth first met Philip, son of Prince Andrew of Greece, when she was only 13. She was smitten with him from the start. Distant cousins, the two kept in touch over the years and eventually fell in love. They made an unusual pair. Elizabeth was quiet and reserved while Philip was boisterous and outspoken. Her father, King George VI, was hesitant about the match because, while Mountbatten had ties to both the Danish and Greek royal families, he didn’t possess great wealth and was considered by some a bit rough in his personality.
At the time of their wedding, Great Britain was still recovering from the ravages of WWII, and Elizabeth collected clothing coupons to get fabric for her gown. The ceremony was held at London’s Westminster Abbey on November 20th. The family took on the name Windsor, a move pushed by her mother and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and which caused tension with her husband. Over the years, Philip has inspired numerous public relations headaches with his off-the-cuff, edgy comments and rumors of possible infidelities.
Children and Grandchildren
Elizabeth and Philip wasted no time in producing an heir: Son Charles was born in 1948, the year after their wedding, and daughter Anne arrived in 1950. Elizabeth had two more children — sons Andrew and Edward — in 1960 and 1964 respectively. In 1969, she officially made Prince Charles her successor by granting him the title of Prince of Wales. Hundreds of millions of people tuned in to see the ceremony on television.
In 1981 Prince Charles wed 19-year-old Diana Spencer (best known as Princess Diana), with later rumors surfacing that he was pressured into the marriage from his family. The wedding drew enormous crowds in the streets of London and millions watched the proceedings on television. Public opinion of the monarchy was especially strong at that time. The couple gave birth to Queen Elizabeth’s grandsons Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and successor to the throne, in 1982, and Prince Harry in 1984. Elizabeth has emerged as a devoted grandmother to William and Harry. Prince William has said that she offered invaluable support and guidance as he and Kate Middleton planned their 2011 wedding.
On July 22, 2013, Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, welcomed their first child, George Alexander Louis — a successor to the throne known officially as “His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.” Elizabeth visited her new great-grandson after William and Kate returned home to Kensington Palace from the hospital. Two years later, on May 2, 2015, William and Kate welcomed their second child, Princess Charlotte, the Queen’s fifth great-grandchild. On April 23, 2018, the couple welcomed their third child, a son.
In addition to Prince William and Prince Harry, the Queen’s other grandchildren are Peter Phillips, Princess Beatrice of York, Princess Eugenie of York, Zara Tindall, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation
On February 6, 1952, Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, died, and she assumed the responsibilities of the ruling monarch. (She and Prince Philip had been in Kenya at the time of her father’s death.) Queen Elizabeth’s official coronation took place on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey. For the first time ever, the ceremony was broadcast on television, allowing people from across the globe to witness the pomp and spectacle of the event.
Family Tree
Queen Elizabeth II’s father, Prince Albert, was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. She has ties with most of the monarchs in Europe. Her ancestors include Queen Victoria (ruled 1837 to 1901) and King George III (ruled 1760 to 1820).
In 1936, the course of Elizabeth’s life changed with the death of her grandfather, George V, with whom she was said to be close. Her uncle became King Edward VIII, but he was in love with American divorcée Wallis Simpson and had to choose between the crown and his heart. In the end, Edward chose Simpson and abdicated the crown. Elizabeth’s father became King George VI in 1937.
Queen Elizabeth As a Child
Queen Elizabeth II was born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on April 21, 1926, in London, England. At the time of her birth, most did not realize Elizabeth would someday become queen of Great Britain. Elizabeth got to enjoy the first decade of her life with all the privileges of being a royal without the pressures of being the heir apparent.
Elizabeth’s father and mother, also known as the Duke and Duchess of York, divided their time between a home in London and Royal Lodge, the family’s home on the grounds of Windsor Great Park. Elizabeth, nicknamed Lilibet, and her younger sister Margaret were educated at home by tutors. Academic courses included French, mathematics and history, with dancing, singing and art lessons undertaken as well.
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret largely stayed out of London, having been relocated to Windsor Castle. From there she made the first of her famous radio broadcasts, with this particular speech reassuring the children of Britain who had been evacuated from their homes and families. The 14-year-old princess, showing her calm and firm personality, told them “that in the end, all will be well; for God will care for us and give us victory and peace.”
Elizabeth soon started taking on other public duties. Appointed colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards by her father, Elizabeth made her first public appearance inspecting the troops in 1942. She also began to accompany her parents on official visits within Britain.
In 1945, Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service to help in the war effort. She trained side-by-side with other British women to be an expert driver and mechanic. While her volunteer work only lasted a few months, it offered Elizabeth a glimpse into a different, non-royal world. She had another vivid experience outside of the monarchy when she and Margaret were allowed to mingle anonymously among the citizenry on Victory in Europe Day.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Job
Queen Elizabeth’s long and mainly peaceful reign has been marked by vast changes in her people’s lives, in her country’s power, how Britain is viewed abroad and how the monarchy is regarded and portrayed. As a constitutional monarch, Elizabeth does not weigh in on political matters, nor does she reveal her political views. However, she confers regularly with her prime ministers.
When Elizabeth became queen, post-war Britain still had a substantial empire, dominions and dependencies. However, during the 1950s and 1960s, many of these possessions achieved independence and the British Empire evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations. Elizabeth II has thus made visits to other countries as head of the Commonwealth and a representative of Britain, including a groundbreaking trip to Germany in 1965. She became the first British monarch to tour there in more than five decades.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Queen Elizabeth continued to travel extensively. In 1973 she attended the Commonwealth Conference in Ottawa, Canada, and in 1976 traveled to the United States for the 200th anniversary celebration of America’s independence from Britain. More than a week later she was in Montreal, Canada, to open the Summer Olympics. In 1979, she traveled to Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, which garnered international attention and widespread respect.
In 1982, Elizabeth worried about her second son Prince Andrew, who served as a helicopter pilot in the British Royal Navy during the Falklands War. Britain went to war with Argentina over the Falklands Islands, a clash that lasted for several weeks. While more than 250 British soldiers died in the conflict, Prince Andrew returned home safe and well, much to his mother’s relief.
In 2011, Elizabeth showed that the crown still had symbolic and diplomatic power when she became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland since 1911.
As queen, Elizabeth has modernized the monarchy, dropping some of its formalities and making certain sites and treasures more accessible to the public. As Britain and other nations struggled financially, she welcomed the elimination of the Civil List, which was a public funding system of the monarchy dating back roughly 250 years. The royal family continues to receive some government support, but the Queen has had to cut back on spending.
Despite the occasional call to step aside for Prince Charles, Elizabeth remained steadfast in her royal obligations as she passed her 90th birthday. She continued making more than 400 engagements per year, maintaining her support of hundreds of charitable organizations and programs.
However, in late 2017 the monarchy took what was considered a major step toward transitioning to the next generation: On November 12, Prince Charles handled the traditional Remembrance Sunday duty of placing a wreath at the Cenotaph war memorial, as the Queen watched from a nearby balcony.
Relationship With Prime Ministers
As of 2017, Elizabeth has had 13 prime ministers placed into power during her reign, with Queen and PM having a weekly, confidential meeting. (Elizabeth has also met about a quarter of all the U.S. presidents in history.) She enjoyed a father figure relationship with the iconic Winston Churchill, and was later able to loosen up a bit and be somewhat informal with Labour leaders Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. In contrast, she and Margaret Thatcher had a very formal, distant relationship, with the PM tending to be a grating lecturer to the Queen on a variety of issues.
Tony Blair saw certain concepts around the monarchy as somewhat outdated, though he did appreciate Elizabeth making a public statement after the death of Princess Diana. Later, Conservative leader David Cameron, who is Elizabeth’s fifth cousin removed, enjoyed a warm rapport with the Queen. He apologized in 2014 for revealing in a conversation that she was against the Scottish referendum to seek independence from Great Britain. The most recent PM, Theresa May, has been described as being tight-lipped about Brexit plans to leave the European Union, with a rumor circulating that Elizabeth was perturbed over not being informed about future exit strategies.
Threats
Elizabeth, as queen, worked tirelessly to protect the image of the monarchy and to prepare for its future. But she has seen the monarchy come under attack during her lifetime. The once-revered institution has weathered a number of storms, including death threats against the royal family. In 1979, Elizabeth suffered a great personal loss when Lord Mountbatten, her husband’s uncle, died in a terrorist bombing. Mountbatten and several members of his family were aboard his boat on August 29th, off the west coast of Ireland, when the vessel exploded. He and three others, including one of his grandsons, were killed. The IRA (Irish Republican Army), which opposed British rule in Northern Ireland, took responsibility for the attack.
In June 1981, Elizabeth herself had a dangerous encounter. She was riding in the Trooping the Colour, a special military parade to celebrate her official birthday, when a man in the crowd pointed a gun at her. He fired, but, fortunately, the gun was loaded with blanks. Other than receiving a good scare, the Queen was not hurt. She had an even closer call the following year when an intruder broke into Buckingham Palace and confronted Elizabeth in her bedroom. When the press got wind of the fact that Prince Philip was nowhere to be seen during this incident, they speculated about the state of the royal marriage.
Tabloid Scandals
The marriage of Queen Elizabeth’s son, Prince Charles, to Princess Diana made headlines for years before the couple announced plans to divorce in 1992. In the wake of Princess Diana’s death in 1997, Elizabeth went under intense media scrutiny. Her incredibly popular ex-daughter-in-law, sometimes nicknamed the People’s Princess, died from injuries in a Paris car crash on August 31st. The Queen was at her Balmoral estate in Scotland with Prince Charles and his and Diana’s two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, at the time. For days, Elizabeth remained silent while the country mourned Diana’s passing, and she was sharply criticized for her lack of response. Stories circulated that the Queen did not want to give Diana a royal funeral, which only fueled public sentiment against the monarch. Nearly a week after Diana’s death, Elizabeth returned to London and issued a statement on the late princess.
Another of Queen Elizabeth’s children, Prince Andrew, ended up in the tabloids, after photos emerged of his wife Sarah Ferguson and another man engaged in romantic activity.
In November 2017, the media turned its attention back to the Queen, this time over reports of some $13 million invested in offshore accounts. The news came following the leak of the so-called “Paradise Papers” to a German newspaper, which shared the documents with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The Duchy of Lancaster, which holds assets for the Queen, confirmed that some of its investments were overseas accounts, but insisted they were all legitimate.
Also in 2017, the former owner of the lingerie company Rigby & Peller, which had serviced Queen Elizabeth for more than 50 years, wrote a tell-all autobiography that included some of her experiences with the royal family. Although the author insisted that “the book doesn’t contain anything naughty,” the Queen responded in early 2018 by revoking Rigby & Peller’s royal warrant.
Loss and Change
After the start of the 21st century, Elizabeth experienced two great losses. She said goodbye to both her sister Margaret and her mother in 2002, the same year she celebrated her Golden Jubilee, or 50th year on the throne. Margaret, known for being more of an adventurous soul than other royals and who was barred from marrying an early love, died that February after suffering a stroke. Only a few weeks later, Elizabeth’s mother, known as the Queen Mother, died at Royal Lodge on March 30th at the age of 101.
Known to be a stickler for ceremony and tradition, Elizabeth eventually started to show signs of softening her stance. She had objected to the relationship between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, with the pair having been involved while the prince was married. When the two wed in 2005, Elizabeth and Prince Philip had a reception in their honor at Windsor Castle.
Diamond Jubilee
Elizabeth celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, marking 60 years as queen. As part of the jubilee festivities, a special BBC concert was held on June 4th featuring the likes of Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Stevie Wonder and Kylie Minogue. Elizabeth was surrounded by family at this historic event, including her husband Philip, son Charles and grandsons Harry and William. On September 9, 2015, she surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria as Britain’s longest ruling monarch, who reigned for 63 years.
Sapphire Jubilee
On February 6, 2017, the Queen celebrated 65 years on the throne, the only British monarch to ever celebrate her Sapphire Jubilee. The date also marks the anniversary of the death of her father. The Queen chose to spend the day quietly at Sandringham, her country estate north of London, where she attended a church service.
In London, there were royal gun salutes at Green Park and at the Tower of London to mark the occasion. The Royal Mint also issued eight new commemorative coins in honor of the Queen’s Sapphire Jubilee.
Movies and Plays on Queen Elizabeth II
Keeping in mind the duration of her reign, Elizabeth has been played by a number of well-known actresses on both stage and screen. She has perhaps most famously been portrayed by Helen Mirren, who received an Oscar and Golden Globe, among other accolades, for her starring role in 2006’s The Queen, directed by Stephen Frears. Mirren later played Elizabeth in The Audience, a West End and Broadway play which chronicled the Queen’s aforementioned meetings with various prime ministers and for which the actress earned a 2015 Tony Award. Elizabeth later received a dramatic stage treatment from the formidable Kristin Scott Thomas, who starred in The Audience in 2015.
The Queen has also been played in various films over the decades by lookalike Jeannette Charles and was portrayed by Emma Thompson in the Playhouse Presents TV episode Walking the Dogs (2012). Elizabeth has been more recently portrayed on television screens by Claire Foy; the actress depicts the future monarch at the time of her marriage and political relationship with Churchill (John Lithgow) in Netflix’s The Crown, which debuted in autumn 2016. Foy received a Best Actress Golden Globe for the role.
Personal Life
For much of her life, the Queen has surrounded herself with dogs. She is especially known for her love of corgis, owning more than 30 descendants of the first corgi she received as a teenager, until the death of the final one, Willow, in 2018. Elizabeth is also a horse enthusiast who bred thoroughbreds and attended racing events for many years.
Not one for the spotlight, Elizabeth likes quiet pastimes. She enjoys reading mysteries, working on crossword puzzles and even watching wrestling on television.
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Live Interview Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JILrWW5kBv
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Italy Alessandro Del Piero |
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Concluded Myers Briggs Personality Type – ESTP
Net Worth: $25 million – 2018
Quotes:
‘I don’t understand Buffon‘
Live Interview Videos:
Bio & Career stats
Alessandro Del Piero
Italian footballer
alessandrodelpiero.com
Alessandro “Alex” Del Piero, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia.
- First name
- Alessandro
- Last name
- Del Piero
- Nationality
- Italy
- Date of birth
- 9 November 1974
- Age
- 44
- Country of birth
- Italy
- Place of birth
- Conegliano
- Position
- Attacker
- Height
- 173 cm
- Weight
- 73 kg
CAREER
Ed Sheeran
Net Worth: $140 million – 2018
Quotes:
But once you’ve made a song and you put it out there, you don’t own it anymore. The public own it. It’s their song. It might be their song that they wake up to, or their song they have a shower to, or their song that they drive home to or their song they cry to, scream to, have babies to, have weddings to – like, it isn’t your song anymore.
Live Interview Videos:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8rV_PI10Vg/youtube]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npX0FHStCLI
Bio & Career stats:
Ed Sheeran
| Ed Sheeran
MBE |
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|---|---|
Sheeran performing in February 2013
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edward Christopher Sheeran |
| Born | 17 February 1991 Halifax, West Yorkshire, England |
| Origin | Framlingham, Suffolk, England |
| Genres |
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| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts |
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| Website | www |
Edward Christopher Sheeran, MBE (/ˈʃɪərən/; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actor. Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. He attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford as an undergraduate from the age of 18 in 2009. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project.
After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (pronounced “plus”), was released in September 2011. It topped the UK and Australian charts, reached number five in the US, and has since been certified seven-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single “The A Team”, which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. “The A Team” was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John.
His second studio album, x (pronounced “multiply”), was released in June 2014. It peaked at number one in the UK and the US. In 2015, x won the Brit Award for Album of the Year, and he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. His single from x, “Thinking Out Loud”, earned him two Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremony: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. In May 2016, x was named the second-best-selling album worldwide of 2015.
Sheeran’s third album, ÷ (pronounced “divide”), was released in March 2017. The album debuted at number one in the UK, the US and other major markets. The first two singles from the album, “Shape of You” and “Castle on the Hill”, were released in January 2017 and broke records in a number of countries, including the UK, Australia and Germany, by debuting in the top two positions of the charts. He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week. By March 2017, Sheeran had accumulated ten top 10 singles from ÷ on the UK Singles Chart, breaking the record for most top 10 UK singles from one album. His fourth single from ÷, “Perfect”, reached number one in the UK (Christmas number one), Australia, and in the US. In April 2018, ÷ was named the best-selling album worldwide of 2017.
Sheeran has sold more than 38 million albums and 100 million singles worldwide, making him one of the world’s best-selling music artists.[5][6] Two of his albums are in the list of the best-selling albums in UK chart history: x (at number 20) and ÷ (at number 34). As an actor, Sheeran has portrayed recurring roles on The Bastard Executioner and Home and Away.
Contents
- 1Early life
- 2Music career
- 2.12004–2010: Career beginnings
- 2.22011–2013: + and international success
- 2.32014–2015: ×
- 2.42016–present: Hiatus and ÷
- 3Influences
- 4Other ventures
- 4.1Gingerbread Man records
- 4.2Charity
- 4.3Acting
- 5Personal life
- 6Awards and nominations
- 7Discography
- 8Filmography
- 9Tours
- 9.1Headlining act
- 9.2Opening act
- 10See also
- 11Notes
- 12References
- 12.1Sources
- 13External links
Early life
Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire[7] on 17 February 1991.[2] When he was a child, he moved with his family from Hebden Bridge to Framlingham in Suffolk.[8] He has an older brother named Matthew who works as a composer.[9] Sheeran’s parents, John and Imogen, are from London. His paternal grandparents are Irish,[10][11][12] and Sheeran has stated that his father is from a “very large” Catholic family.[13] John is an art curator and lecturer, and Imogen is a culture publicist turned jewellery designer.[11][14] His parents ran Sheeran Lock, an independent art consultancy, from 1990 to 2010.[15]
Sheeran sang in a local church choir from the age of four, learned to play the guitar during his time at Rishworth School,[16] and began writing songs while at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham.[17][18] He was accepted at the National Youth Theatre in London as a teenager.[19][20] He is a patron of the Youth Music Theatre UK[21] and of Access to Music, where he studied Artist Development course.[22][23] Sheeran is a second cousin of Northern Irish broadcaster Gordon Burns,[24] who hosted the British game show The Krypton Factor.[11]
Music career
2004–2010: Career beginnings
Sheeran performing at the Ipswich Arts Festival in July 2010
Sheeran began recording music in 2004, and independently released his first collection of work, Spinning Man.[A] He has been friends with fellow English singer, Passenger, since he was 15, with the two playing on the same gig in Cambridge.[26] He moved to London in 2008, and began playing in small venues. In 2008, he auditioned for the ITV series, Britannia High.[27] He also opened for Nizlopi in Norwich in April 2008, after being one of their guitar technicians.[18] 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, Leddra Chapman, including CeeLo Green’s “Fuck You”. In February 2010, Sheeran posted a video through SB.TV, and rapper Exampleinvited Sheeran to tour with him. In the same month, he also released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his future debut single, “The A Team”.[28] In the autumn of 2009, Sheeran began studying music at the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in Guildford, Surrey as an undergraduate,[29][30] though it is not clear how long he remained at the college.
Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew, with him also getting credit from The Independent newspaper, England football captain Rio Ferdinand and Elton John.[31] He played a Station Session in St. Pancras International in June 2010.[32][33] The episode is unavailable from the official Station Sessions channel.[34] Sheeran also self-released two other EPs in 2010, Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford and Songs I Wrote with Amy, which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with singer, Amy Wadge.[35] In 2010 he was in Los Angeles and was invited to perform at The Foxxhole, a club run by actor Jamie Foxx, which ended with an invitation to stay at Foxx’s home.[36]
On 8 January 2011, Sheeran released another independent EP, No. 5 Collaborations Project, featuring grime artists such as Wiley, Jme, Devlin, Swayand Ghetts.[37] With this EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention for reaching number 2 in the iTunes chart without any promotion or label, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week.[38] Three months later, Sheeran put on a free show to fans at the Barfly in Camden Town. Over 1,000 fans turned up, so Sheeran played four different shows to ensure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Later that month, Sheeran was signed to Asylum Records.[38]
2011–2013: + and international success
On 26 April 2011, 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, + (pronounced “plus”).[39] “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, selling 801,000 copies.[40]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 26 August as the second single from the album. The second single peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart.[41] “Lego House” was released as the third single, reaching the top ten on the Australian, Irish and New Zealand Singles Charts.[42] The music video for “Lego House” features Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint, as a play on their similar appearance.[43] “Drunk”, released on 19 February 2012, became Sheeran’s fourth consecutive top ten single in the UK, peaking at number nine.[44]
Sheeran at the Frequency Festivalin Austria, August 2012
Sheeran released + on 12 September 2011. The album received generally favourable reviews from music critics.[45] + debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart for sales of 102,000 copies.[46] By end of 2011, sales of the album in the UK stand at 791,000; it became the second best-selling debut album and the ninth biggest-selling album there.[47] The album has been certified platinum six times by the British Phonographic Industry, denoting shipments of 1,800,000 copies.[48] As of March 2012, the album had sold 1,021,072 copies in the UK.[49]The album also reached the top five in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the US.[50][51][52]
The song, “Moments”, on the debut album by boy band One Direction, released in November 2011, was co-written by Sheeran.[53] At the 2012 Brit Awards on 21 February, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Breakthrough Act of the Year.[54][55] On 10 January 2012, it was announced that Sheeran would support Snow Patrol on their US tour from late March until May.[56]His song, “Give Me Love”, was featured in the episode “Dangerous Liaisons” of The Vampire Diaries.[57] At the Ivor Novello Awards in May 2012, Sheeran’s “The A Team” bested Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” and Florence and the Machine’s “Shake It Out” for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.[58] Sheeran performed “The A Team” at the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II concert held on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012 and a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics on 12 August 2012.[59]
Sheeran on stage in Sydney, Australia, February 2013
Taylor Swift contacted Sheeran after hearing his music while touring Australia in March 2012.[60] He later co-wrote and provided vocals for “Everything Has Changed”, a single featured on Swift’s fourth studio album, Red. Sheeran also contributed two songs to One Direction’s second studio album, Take Me Home, released in November 2012; the single “Little Things” became the group’s second number-one in the UK.[61] Sheeran’s album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, while “The A Team” reached No. 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[60] In late 2012 and early 2013, he headlined a US tour of 6,000–9,000 capacity venues.[60] “The A Team” received a nomination for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards.[62] Elton John, who runs Sheeran’s management company, canvassed the award organisers to get Sheeran a performance slot at the ceremony but was told that Sheeran alone was not high-profile enough. John decided to appear with Sheeran to circumvent this problem.[63] Sheeran was also featured on some tracks from Irish singer Foy Vance’s fourth album Joy of Nothing,[64] in particular on Guiding Light which the British singer also often sang on stage.
From March to September 2013, Sheeran played at arenas and stadiums across North America as the opening act for Swift’s The Red Tour.[65][66]According to Sheeran, it was then his biggest tour and he added a scarlet RED tattoo to commemorate it.[67] In October 2013, Sheeran headlined three sold-out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden, which has a capacity of 18,200.[66][68][69] At the concert, Sheeran debuted new songs including “Tenerife Sea”,[70] a future track on his second studio album. Sheeran released “I See Fire” on 5 November 2013. The song is featured in the end credits of the film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the film’s soundtrack, and on the deluxe version of his second album.[71] Sheeran was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2014 Grammy Awards.[72]
2014–2015: ×
Sheeran on stage at the Southside Festival in Germany, June 2014
On 24 March 2014, Sheeran performed at the Teenage Cancer Trust charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London where he unveiled “Take It Back”, a track that would appear on the deluxe version of the second album.[73] “Sing”, the lead single, was released on 7 April 2014. Sonically, the song is a departure from Sheeran’s previous recordings.[74][75] “Sing” was intended to create hype over the album release, but from concern that this might alienate Sheeran’s fan base, “One”, an acoustic ballad, was released on 16 May 2014;[66][76] “One” also marked the first of several promotional singles released leading to the album release. By early June 2014, “Sing” had earned Sheeran his first number-one single in the UK.[77]
Sheeran’s second studio album, x (pronounced “multiply”), was released worldwide on 23 June 2014. In a span of three years, Sheeran wrote more than 120 songs for the album,[78] the earliest of which was composed shortly after + was released.[79] The album features tracks produced by Rick Rubin, Pharrell Williams and Benny Blanco,[78] as well as that of Gosling’s.[74] x peaked at number one in both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. To support the album, Sheeran embarked on a world tour starting on 6 August 2014 at Osaka, Japan. On 27 September 2014, Sheeran was one of the headline acts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground prior to the 2014 AFL Grand Final.[80] Following “Don’t”, “Thinking Out Loud” was released on 24 September 2014 as the album’s third single. Unlike his previous music videos, Sheeran took the lead role in the single’s accompaniment, where he performed a ballroom dance.[81] It became his second single to reach number one in the UK,[82] and it also spent eight weeks at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 (with only “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars keeping it from top spot).[83] In 2014, combined streams on Sheeran’s catalogue in Spotify reached 860 million; Spotify named him the most-streamed artist and x the most-streamed album.[84] In the same year, the album made Sheeran iTunes’ best-selling artist in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand.[85][86]
Sheeran on stage at Wembley Stadium, July 2015
x was nominated for Album of the Year at the 57th Grammy Awards.[87] Sheeran performed alongside John Mayer at the ceremony.[88] On 25 February, Sheeran won British Male Solo Artist and British Album of the Year for x at the 2015 Brit Awards.[89] On 21 May he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year.[90] On 21 June, Sheeran co-hosted the 2015 Much Music Video Awards in Toronto, where he performed the singles, “Thinking Out Loud” and “Photograph”; he also won two awards, Best International Artist and Most Buzzworthy International Artist or Group.[91][92] On 27 June, Sheeran performed as the opening act for The Rolling Stones in their Zip Code Tour date in Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.[93] On 10–12 July 2015, Sheeran performed sold-out shows at London’s Wembley Stadium. The shows, which were announced in November 2014, were part of his world tour.[94] The concert was documented and aired on 16 August 2015 on NBC; the one-hour special Ed Sheeran – Live at Wembley Stadium also included behind-the-scenes footage.[95] In November 2015 Sheeran released the DVD Jumpers for Goalposts: Live at Wembley Stadium, the title a nod to playing concerts at Wembley Stadium, the home of English football.[96]
In 2015, Sheeran wrote “Love Yourself” for Justin Bieber’s fourth album.[97] Sheeran had initially planned to put the song on his third album ÷ and added that the track would have been scrapped before Bieber took the song.[98] In August 2015, he sang along with Macklemore on the track “Growing Up”.[99] On 26 September, Sheeran performed at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park’s Great Lawn in New York, an event organised by Coldplay lead singer, Chris Martin, that advocates an end to extreme global poverty. Sheeran headlined the festival along with Beyoncé, Coldplay, and Pearl Jam. The festival was broadcast on NBC in the US on 27 September and the BBC in the UK on 28 September.[100] Sheeran co-hosted the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards on 25 October in Milan, Italy. He won the awards for Best Live Act and Best Live Stage;[101] the latter was in recognition for his performance at the 2014 V Festival in England.[102] Sheeran won the Breakthrough award at the 2015 Billboard Touring Awards.[103] His single from x, “Thinking Out Loud”, earned him two Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremony: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. In May 2016, x was named the second-best-selling album worldwide in 2015, behind 25 by Adele.[104]
2016–present: Hiatus and ÷
On 13 December 2016, after a year long hiatus and social media break, Sheeran tweeted a picture and changed his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to a light blue, implying the release of a new album – each of Sheeran’s previous albums were a single coloured background with a solid mathematical symbol.[105] On 2 January, he posted a 10-second video on Twitter and other social media showing what was the cover design of his forthcoming album entitled ÷ (pronounced “divide”) which was released on 3 March 2017.[106] The album debuted at number one in the UK, the US, Germany, Australia, Canada and other major markets.[107][108][109] With first week sales of 672,000 it is the fastest selling album by a male solo artist in the UK, and third fastest in UK chart history behind 25 by Adele and Be Here Now by Oasis.[107] It had the biggest first week sales of 2017 in the US, until it was surpassed by Taylor Swift’s Reputation.[108]
Framlingham Castle in Sheeran’s home town, the castle referred to in the single “Castle on the Hill”
On 6 January, Sheeran released two singles, “Shape of You” and “Castle on the Hill”; the theme of the latter single is about Sheeran’s upbringing in his home town of Framlingham in Suffolk, with the castle referring to Framlingham Castle.[110] Following the release of these singles, Sheeran went on to co-host the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Scott Mills where it was inferred that he would possibly make an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2017.[111] It was also during this show that Sheeran used a new Martin guitar that featured the ÷ logo (of his new album) on both the headstock and body of the acoustic guitar.[112] Both singles went on to break the Spotify day one streaming record, with a combined total of over 13 million streams in 24 hours.[113]
Sheeran performing in Miami, Florida during his Divide Tour, August 2017
On 13 January, “Shape of You” and “Castle on the Hill” entered the UK Singles Chart at number one and number two, the first time in history an artist has taken the top two UK chart positions with new songs.[114]The same day he also became the first artist to debut at number one and number two on the official German Single Charts.[115] On 15 January, the songs debuted at number one and number two on the ARIA Singles Chart, the first time this has been achieved in the history of the Australian chart.[116] On 17 January, “Shape of You” debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, while “Castle on the Hill” entered at number six; this made Sheeran the first artist ever to have two songs simultaneously debut in the US top 10.[117]
On 26 January, Sheeran announced tour dates for the album ÷ in Europe, South America and North America from 17 March until 14 June 2017.[118]Sheeran played to over 950,000 people in Australia and New Zealand in March and April 2018, making it the biggest concert tour in Australasian music history, overtaking the previous record set by Dire Straits in 1986.[119] On 17 February 2017, Sheeran released “How Would You Feel (Paean)”. Though not an official single, the song peaked at number two in the UK.[120] By 11 March 2017 Sheeran had accumulated ten top 10 singles from ÷ on the UK Singles Chart, breaking Scottish DJ Calvin Harris’s record of nine top 10 singles from one album.[121][121] At the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards Sheeran was named Artist of the Year.[122] The fourth single from ÷, “Perfect”, reached number one in the UK and Australia, and a stripped down acoustic version of the song titled “Perfect Duet”, a collaboration with Beyoncé, reached number one in the US and the UK,[123][124]becoming the year’s UK Christmas number one.[125] On 7 November, Taylor Swift revealed that Sheeran collaborated on the song “End Game” for her sixth studio album Reputation.[126] The song, which also features rapper Future, was released on 10 November.[127]
On 4 December, Sheeran was named Spotify’s most streamed artist of 2017 with 6.3 billion streams. He has Spotify’s biggest album of the year with ÷ streamed 3.1 billion times, and the top song with “Shape of You” with 1.4 billion streams.[128] On 5 December 2017, hip-hop artist Eminem announced that Sheeran had collaborated on the song “River” for his ninth studio album Revival.[129] On working with Eminem, Sheeran stated, “He is one of the reasons I started writing songs, and was such a pleasure to work with him.”[129] Speaking on The Late Late Show on Irish television on 15 December, Sheeran stated he has a theme song written for a James Bond film in case he gets the call from producers of the film series.[130]
On 3 January 2018, “Shape of You” was named the best selling single of 2017 in the UK,[131] and the best selling single of 2017 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.[132] The same day, ÷ was named the best selling album of 2017 in the UK,[133] and the US.[134] At the 2018 Brit Awards held at the O2 Arena in London on 21 February, Sheeran performed “Supermarket Flowers”, and received the Global Success Award.[135] In April 2018, the IFPI named ÷ the best-selling album worldwide of 2017.[136] At the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on 20 May, Sheeran performed “Galway Girl” from Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland, and picked up six awards, including Top Artist and Top Hot 100 Artist.[137]
Influences
Sheeran appeared on stage with his idol Eric Clapton at the Nippon Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Japan on 13 April 2016 performing Clapton’s “I Will Be There”
Sheeran’s earliest memories include listening to the records of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Elton John’s Greatest Hits.[36] According to Sheeran, the album that introduced him to music was Van Morrison’s Irish Heartbeat.[11] During his childhood his father took him to live concerts that would inspire his musical creations. These included seeing Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall, Paul McCartney in Birmingham, and Bob Dylan.[138] On the influence of Clapton, Sheeran states, “He’s the reason I started playing guitar”.[139] He singled out Clapton’s performance at the Party at the Palace in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, “I was eleven when I saw Eric Clapton play at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee concert in June 2002. I remember him walking on stage with this rainbow-coloured Stratocaster and playing the first riff of “Layla”. I was hooked. Two days later I bought a black Stratocaster copy for £30 that came with an amp. All I did for the next month was try to play that Layla riff.”[140]
He has also cited The Beatles, Nizlopi and Eminem as his biggest musical influences.[141][142] According to Sheeran, he had a stutter in his speech when he was younger, and he credited rapping along to Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP for helping him get rid of it.[143] He was also inspired by “Cannonball” singer-songwriter Damien Rice in 2002, with Sheeran stating, “seeing him play this small club in Ireland, I was able to meet him, and he was unbelievably cool. I went straight home and started writing songs. I would not be doing what I’m doing now if he’d been a jerk.”[144] He also told the Irish pop vocal band Westlife when he was younger, he used to learn how to play the guitar to the Westlife greatest hits album when he was ten, citing them as one of his influences.[145][146] Sheeran collaborated with his idol Eric Clapton in April 2016, with Sheeran stating to People magazine, “I sang on Eric Clapton’s album [I Still Do]. It’s one thing having him on mine, but being his, that’s an honour that you can’t ever pinpoint on how great that is. I did something for his record, and I was credited as ‘Angelo Mysterioso,’ [appearing as a guest on Clapton’s “I Will Be There”, in addition to performing the song with Clapton on stage], and he did something for my record [performing a guitar solo on “Dive” on Sheeran’s album ÷] and was credited as ‘Angelo Mysterioso.'”[139]
Other ventures
Gingerbread Man records
In March 2015, Sheeran revealed he was setting up a record label, Gingerbread Man Records, which is a deal with Warner Music Group.[147] The label was launched in August 2015 alongside its accompanying YouTube channel.[148] Jamie Lawson, the label’s first signee, met Sheeran while they were both in London’s folk circuit.[149] Lawson released his self-titled debut album on 9 October 2015, which has earned him a number one in the UK Albums Chart.[150] Sheeran signed his second artist, Foy Vance, in November 2015.[151]
Charity
Sheeran performed a gig in Bristol, which raised £40,000 for a charity that reaches out to street sex workers. “It’s good to show insight that these people are real people with real emotions and they deserve the same charity work as anyone else,” Sheeran said. “There’s a lot more popular charities that get a lot of attention. And with certain subjects like this they’re often washed over and people don’t necessarily give them the attention they deserve.” Tickets were available to those taking part in the charity’s Give it up for One25 campaign by giving something up for 125 hours and hitting the £40,000 fundraising mark.[152]
Sheeran often wears hoodies or tartan shirts, and frequently donates his clothes to charity shops in Suffolk
Sheeran frequently gives away his clothes to charity shops around Suffolk, his home county.[153] An ambassador for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice, he has donated clothes to the St Elizabeth Hospice charity shop in his home town Framlingham, including eight bags of clothes to the shop in February 2014, and eight items of clothing he wore at the 2015 Grammy Awards.[154] In 2016 he donated 13 bags of clothes to the shop.[155] The tartan shirt worn by Sheeran when he met Renee Zellweger’s character, Bridget, in Bridget Jones’s Baby, was auctioned online to raise further funds for the hospice.[155]
On 15 November 2014, Sheeran joined the charity supergroup Band Aid 30 along with other British and Irish pop acts, recording the latest version of the track “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, to raise money for the West African Ebola virus epidemic.[156]
In November 2015, Sheeran supported the No Cold Homes campaign by the UK charity, Turn2us.[157] Sheeran was one of nearly thirty celebrities, which included Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons and Hugh Laurie, to donate items of winter clothing to the campaign, with the proceeds used to help people in the country struggling to keep their home warm in winter.[158]
Sheeran appeared in a November 2017 episode of Gogglebox along with other UK celebrities such as Ozzy Osbourne, former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as part of Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK’s Stand Up to Cancer fundraising campaign.[159]
Acting
Sheeran made his acting debut in 2014, a cameo role as himself on New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, filmed while he was in the country for a one-off performance.[160] In May 2015, he appeared as himself and performed on a live episode of the NBC sitcom Undateable.[161] Later that year, while in Australia, he recorded scenes for the soap Home and Away, as a character based on himself.[162]
After recording a cover version of Foy Vance’s “Make It Rain” for Sons of Anarchy, Sheeran was cast by creator Kurt Sutter to play Sir Cormac in the medieval drama The Bastard Executioner on FX.[163] Sheeran also appeared as himself in the 2016 film Bridget Jones’s Baby in a scene where Bridget Jones, played by Renée Zellweger, encounters the singer at the Glastonbury Festival where he is performing.[164]
In July 2017, Sheeran appeared in a longer cameo on Game of Thrones in a scene together with actress Maisie Williams, who plays the character Arya Stark.[165] David Benioffexplained that since Williams was a big fan of the singer, they wanted to have Sheeran appear on the show to surprise Williams, and that they had tried to get him on for years.[166] It received a mix of positive and very critical reviews.[167][168]
Personal life
Sheeran’s tattoos are either connected to his family, achievements or memories
In early 2011, after securing recording and publishing deals, Sheeran purchased and renovated a farm near Framlingham, Suffolk, where he was raised. He has stated that he hopes to raise a family there.[66][169] During 2013, he lived between Hendersonville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California.[170] In 2014, he bought a house in South London.[66]
Sheeran was in a relationship with Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt (who was in his music video for “Drunk”) in 2012, before breaking up.[171]Nesbitt is the subject of Sheeran’s songs “Nina” and “Photograph”, while most of Nesbitt’s album, Peroxide, is about Sheeran.[171] In January 2014, Sheeran was in a relationship with Athina Andrelos, who works for chef Jamie Oliver.[172] She is the inspiration of Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud”.[173] They broke up in February 2015.[173] Since July 2015, Sheeran has been in a relationship with childhood friend and former high school classmate Cherry Seaborn.[174] They announced their engagement in January 2018.[175] In August 2018 he hinted that they married in a private ceremony.[174] He is also close friends with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, and collaborated on her albums Red and Reputation.[139]
Sheeran is a supporter of his local football club Ipswich Town F.C..[176] A collector of Panini’s FIFA World Cup sticker album, he completed the 2014 World Cup album.[177]
In June 2015, Forbes listed his earnings at $57 million for the previous 12 months, and ranked him the 27th-highest-earning celebrity in the world.[178] On 19 October 2015, Sheeran received an honorary degree from the University of Suffolk in Ipswich for his “outstanding contribution to music”.[179] Sheeran commented: “Suffolk is very much where I call home. Receiving this recognition is a real privilege.”[179]
In a December 2017 interview with The Sunday Times’ “Culture” magazine, Sheeran spoke of his admiration for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. “I love Corbyn. I love everything Corbyn is about. And I feel people thought that, because I didn’t put myself behind him, I wasn’t a Corbyn supporter. He cares about other people. He cares about all classes, races and generations, and that’s how I was brought up – we need more people that care about everyone.”[180]
Awards and nominations
Sheeran was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.[181] He received the award from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace on 7 December 2017.[182] In July 2018, he was entitled by Forbes as the 9th most earning celebrity in the “Celebrity 100 List of The World’s Highest-Paid Entertainers
