Ed Sheeran may have just released his sixth pop album, Subtract, but this isn’t stopping the singer from setting his sights on his next musical genre.
On Wednesday, the musician told Billboard that he’d like to enter his country music era.
“I talk about this to my wife all the time. I would love to transition into country,” he told the publication. “I love the culture of it, I just love the songwriting. It’s just like brilliant songs.”
It’s fitting then that Sheeran is performing at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Thursday night. In fact, it’s at the awards show’s venue — the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas — that Sheeran spoke to Billboard about his new musical aspirations.
Sheeran’s pivot to country wouldn’t be so farfetched. He’s besties with country-turned-pop-turned-folk-turned-country (again) singer, Taylor Swift.
In fact, it’s Swift who first exposed Sheeran to the world of country music. “I’d never really listened to country music as a kid growing up. It was only being on Taylor’s Red tour and living in Nashville and her basically introducing me to that side of it,” Sheeran told Billboard.
In case you forgot, Sheeran opened for Swift on her Red tour in 2014 after the release of his 2011 debut album, Plus.
Part of Sheeran’s interest in transitioning to country, apparently, has to do with his love for the city of Nashville. Billboard reported the singer has lived there twice in his life, once in 2013 and again in 2018.
“There’s not really a place in Europe where you could point and say, ‘That’s the home of songwriting,’” he told the publication. “It’s not just for country music. Nashville is just a hub of incredible songwriters, incredible performers. And I really felt inspired just being there being around everyone.”
