Ed Sheeran Is Leaving Music If This Happens: «I Find It Really Insulting»
He faces trial on charges of plagiarizing Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On'
Ed Sheeran could leave the music if he is finally convicted of plagiarism. The artist has confessed that: «I find it really insulting to dedicate my whole life to being a performer and composer and have someone diminish it». With this phrase he concluded his statement on the stand, as published by the MailOnline portal.
The singer is inmersed o in a trial accused of allegedly plagiarizing the song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ in 2015. The complaint occurred a year later, in 2016, when the artist Ed Townsend, co-writer of the song ‘Let’s Get It On’, formally accused him of plagiarism. The accusations specifically spoke of a copy of the song’s rhythm, as well as the 4 chords corresponding to the theme.
«I’d Be An Idiot!»
However, Sheeran strongly denies having been inspired or copied this composition. To conclude with his statement, he assured that in case of being a plagiarizer «I would be an idiot for getting on stage in front of 20,000 people» reports Rolling Stone. In addition, Ed, according to this magazine has confessed that «most pop songs have been built on chord blocks that have been free for over 100 years».
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was a real hit, and, in fact, in 2016 took the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
The trial is taking place in Manhattan and is expected to conclude in approximately two weeks. Ed’s team has commented on the matter and has communicated that both songs only share a series of basic chord progressions of the pop genre. For this reason, the artist is fully confident in his innocence and, in case he is found guilty, he has assured that he will leave music.
This is not be the first time that the singer speaks about his retirement from music, since a couple of years ago, in December 2019 he assured that he was getting off the world stages after being on tour for more than two years travelling the world with his music. This retirement he proposed to devote himself completely to raise a family and have time to dedicate to his private life. During this time away from music, he married Cherry Seaborn and welcomed his first daughter. Fortunately, however, as we all know, he did not retire completely.
It’s hard to believe that an artist of this stature would retire from the stage for good, so let’s hope it’s just a warning, because we know he has lots of good ideas and new collabs in mind. Music without Ed would be a little less music!
One of His Most Difficult Moments
Through his new documentary, ‘The Sum of It All’, the singer shows one of the most difficult moments he lived in his private life. His partner, Seaborn, was diagnosed with a tumor during her pregnancy in 2022. A tumor that could not be removed until she gave birth.
«I was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of the year, which was terrible. It made me reflect on mortality and I wouldn’t have agreed to do something like that, but I thought ‘If I die what will people’s perception of me be? What are you leaving people?’ It wasn’t until this year that I realized I might die.» This information is contained in the first episode of his film released on the Disney+ digital platform.
Subtract, an Album Marked by a Turbulent Year in His Life
Ed Sheeran will release a new album this Friday April 5 in what experts say will be his saddest album. «I’d been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then, at the beginning of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health and even the way I viewed music and art» explains Ed about the inner workings of this new project.
«Songwriting is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I used to write without thinking about what the songs should be, I just wrote whatever popped into my head. And just a week ago, I replaced a decades-long work with my deepest, darkest thoughts. In less than a month, my pregnant wife was found to have a tumor with no possible treatment until she gave birth, my best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly, and I found myself defending the integrity of my songwriting career in a court of law. I was involved in a spiral of fear, depression and anxiety» with these words, defines the artist his new work.
There will be 14 songs that will be part of this new studio album (18 in the deluxe edition), the seventh of his career, and that will pick up the baton of his four previous numerical works: (Plus, 2011), x (Multiply, 2014), ÷ (Divide, 2017) and = (Equals, 2021).
You can read the Spanish version of this article by Oscar Garcia Ortells here: ‘Ed Sheeran: Me parece insultante dedicar toda mi vida a ser compositor y que alguien me menosprecie’.