From the release of – (Subtract), his sixth studio album, to his brand new song for the Ted Lasso series finale, Ed Sheeran has been omnipresent this year. On Tuesday morning (June 6), the “Shape of You” singer took over the Today Show plaza for a performance in support of his latest record.
While his set featured renditions of Subtract singles such as “Eyes Closed,” which peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, the performance’s most memorable moment came by way of a cut from his 2017 ÷ (Divide) album.
After Sheeran concluded one of his songs, Today Show host Hoda Kotb came across another Ed in the audience. With the encouragement of Kotb, this Ed — a Sheeran fan named Ed Castillo from Clifton, N.J. — launched into an impromptu rendition of “Perfect” as the singer-songwriter himself joined him on guitar. Once the fan finished singing, Sheeran agreed that if he were a coach on The Voice, he would have turned his chair for Castillo. 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.
Sheeran’s Today Show stint also provided fans with some hints as to where the “Bad Habits” singer’s musical evolution will take him next. “I’ve known for the last 13 years what Mathematics would be, and now it’s, like, what to do next?” Sheeran said. “There’s lots of questions going around in my head.”
When prompted by host Carson Daly about a possible 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 country music tease comes just a few weeks after Sheeran teamed up with country powerhouse Luke Combs for a new version of “Life Goes On” from – (Subtract).
Sheeran has nine top 10 hits on the Hot 100, two of which have reached the summit — “Shape of You” and “Perfect.” The Grammy-winning superstar has also topped the Billboard 200 with four albums dating back to 2014’s x (Multiply).
