Ed Sheeran may have just released his sixth pop album. Subtractbut that doesn’t stop the singer from targeting his next music genre.
“I talk to my wife about it all the time. I’d like to move to the countryside,” he told the publication. “I love the culture, I just love the songwriting. They’re just brilliant songs.”
So it’s fitting that Sheeran is performing Academy of Country Music Awards on Thursday evening. In fact, at the awards ceremony venue — the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas — Sheeran spoke to Billboard about his new musical aspirations.
Sheeran’s turn to the country wouldn’t be all that far-fetched. He is close friends with country, pop, folk and country singer Taylor Swift.
In fact, it was Swift who first introduced Sheeran to the country music world. “I never really listened to country music as a kid. It was only with Taylor Red “I’m touring and living in Nashville, and she basically introduced me to that side of it,” Sheeran told Billboard.
In case you forgot, Sheeran opened up to her Swift Red Tour in 2014 following the release of his 2011 debut album, Plus.
Apparently, part of Sheeran’s interest in moving to the country has to do with his love of the city of Nashville. Billboard reported that 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 can say, ‘This is the home of songwriting,'” he told the publication. “It’s not just for country music. Nashville is simply a hub of incredible songwriters and incredible artists. And I felt really inspired just to be there and to be with everyone.”
