This week is a big one for Ed Sheeran. On April 4, He announced “Sing,” the first song from his upcoming album, “x”. The same day his Billboard cover story debuted, and yesterday (April 11), the day before of his gig performing on “Saturday Night Live,” the Brit singer/songwriter invited Billboard and our photographer to tag along through a hectic press day running around New York as he covered Beyoncé on the radio, communed with fans on the street, and more.
| Ed Sheeran Photos: A Day in the Life in NYC |
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We met up with Ed and his team just before his early-morning appearance on Z100’s “Elvis Duran and The Morning Show” where he had the entire studio watching the sound booth during his cover of Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love”.
Ed Sheeran Covers Beyoncé: Watch
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Just after finishing his interview, Ed ran into Siva Kaneswaran of The Wanted who was heading in for his interview with Elvis and team. The two shared congratulations on their recent work and upcoming projects, and later tweeted about running into each other and Ed’s “Drunk in Love” cover.
A few photos, one selfie, a few sips of coffee, and an elevator ride later Ed paused before his second appearance of the day to take give hugs and take fan photos, sign his cover issue of Billboard Magazine, and spend some time chatting with the fans and their parents who had been waiting for hours to see him.
Whisked away by a SUV with blackout windows, Ed and his team shortly arrived at the Fresh 102.7 studios to speak with Jim & Kim. Ed’s team expanded to include a few extra security guards for the Fresh 102.7 stop, where Ed spoke about his new album and his ‘SNL’ performance.
Pausing to snap a few shots while the car arrived post-interview, Ed took a moment to catch up on social media between the next appearance, where pal Taylor Swift met up with him for an interview before being photographed by the paparazzi while getting into another SUV to leave for locations unknown.
Our time with Ed concluded just after mid-day, with a brief stop for lunch at a restaurant nearby his next interview. Along the way, we learned some fun Ed Sheeran tidbits:
• He likes to put fries on his (preferably pepperoni) pizza and then dip it in ketchup.
• He thinks his Mum is “the closest thing to a saint” he knows, and he calls his parents on a regular basis.
• Drops witty one-liners like it ain’t no thing, including “I’m not very good at tests. I failed my pregnancy test.”
• Believes that the song is his when he’s writing and recording it, but that the public owns the song once it’s released.
• Has a theory about “Dad dancing”, which is that when males have kids their dancing abilities go downhill.
• Ed does two American accents, an Atlanta-style slow-talking hip-hop accent, and a New Jersey Sopranos-esque accent.