Ed Sheeran reveals his wife was diagnosed with a tumour during pregnancy
1 March 2023, 15:41
Ed Sheeran has opened up about the traumatic events which inspired his new album Subtract.
Ed Sheeran, 32, has revealed that his wife Cherry was diagnosed with a tumour when she was pregnant with their second child.
The singer-songwriter shared the information in a lengthy Instagram post where he announced his new album, Subtract, would be out later this year.
The Perfect, Shape of You and Celestial hitmaker opened up to fans about how writing songs is his "therapy" and how difficult moments in his life inspired the album.
The post describes how within a month his wife Cherry Seaborn was diagnosed with a tumour while pregnant with their second child, his best friend, Jamal, passed away unexpectedly, all at the same time he was in court defending himself against copyright claims.
Ed said that he was left "spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety" and describes feeling like he was "drowning".
Ed and Cherry have two children together; Lyra Antartica Seaborn Sheeran, born in 2020, and Jupiter Seaborn Sheeran, born in 2022.
While Ed did not go into further detail about his wife's health, or how she is now, he did write that there was "no route to treatment until after the birth".
You can read the full post from Ed here:
I had 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 start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.
Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.
Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly, and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.
As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time, I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.
This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.
Ed Sheeran's new album, Subtract, will be out on 5th May.
