Ed Sheeran Receives a ‘Perfect’ Fan Serenade And Teases a Potential Genre Switch on The ‘Today Show’
Ed Sheeran has done it all this year, from the release of his sixth studio album, ‘- (Subtract)’, to the premiere of his brand-new song for the ‘Ted Lasso’ season finale. The ‘Shape of You’ singer performed at the ‘Today Show’ plaza recently to promote his most recent album.
His set included the cover of ‘Subtract’ classics like ‘Eyes Closed,’ which peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the highlight of the performance came from a track on his 2017 album ‘(Divide).’
Hoda Kotb, host of the ‘Today Show’, noticed another Ed in the audience after Sheeran had finished singing one of his songs. Ed Castillo, a Sheeran fan from Clifton, New Jersey, got up and spontaneously sang ‘Perfect’ with the singer-songwriter playing guitar with him. Sheeran acknowledged that if he had been a coach on ‘The Voice’, he would have turned his chair in favour of Castillo once the fan completed singing.
In 2017, ‘Perfect’ became the star’s second career No. 1 single on the Hot 100, thanks, in part, to its Beyoncé-assisted duet version.
The ‘Bad Habits’ singer gave fans some idea about where his musical evolution will take him next during his appearance on the ‘Today Show’.
“I’ve known for the last 13 years what Mathematics would be, and now it’s, like, what to do next?” Sheeran explained. “There’s lots of questions going around in my head.”
When prompted by host Carson Daly about a potential pivot to country music, Sheeran responded, “I lived in Nashville for a couple of years, and I kind of fell in love with [country music] there. That’s something I would love to do at some point.”
The tease for country music comes shortly after Sheeran and Luke Combs collaborated on a fresh rendition of ‘Life Goes On’ from ‘- (Subtract)’.
Sheeran has nine songs in the top ten of the Hot 100, including the number-one songs ‘Shape of You’ and ‘Perfect.’ Since 2014’s ‘x (Multiply)’, the Grammy-winning singer has had four albums that have debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.
– Riya Sohini
