He’s not a rapper, he’s a singer with a flow, serious cash flow that is. With 12 shows left to play Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour has become the highest-grossing tour of all time. At just 28 years old Sheeran has broken the record set by U2’s 360 Tour which spanned from 2009-2011. The Divide tour, coming from Sheeran’s 3rdstudio album Divide, has currently grossed £608.2 million ($AU1.08 billion). When the tour concludes in Ipswich later this month, after 893 days, it will also become the most attended tour of all time, reaching over 8.5m people across 43 countries.
The style of his music continues to evolve, most recently with his new album ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’ blending the elements of rap, pop, and rock with the acoustic sound Sheeran is most famous for. For diehard fans though, Sheeran rapping on a track is nothing new, yet rapping on a track with Eminem and 50 Cent, and dropping some serious bars shows why he is already revered as an amazing songwriter and lyricist. Yet even as the sound shifts between genre, even as he collaborates with some of the biggest music stars and even has he amasses more money then most can dream of Sheeran doesn’t try to over complicate things. Both with his relaxed personality and with his performances. On stage Sheeran relies on just a guitar and his custom made loop-pedal. No intricate choreography, no backing track with pre recorded songs. Just a misfit, who grew up 10 miles from Ipswich that went from busking in the cold outdoors to sweating on the stage of the biggest ever tour.