Early life and career

Ed Sheeran was born in February 1991 in Halifax, England. He started playing guitar from a young age, and showed a lot of musical talent. By the age of 11, he was already writing and singing his own songs and had many musical influences including Damien Rice, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Nizlopi and Eminem. In 2005, he released his first EP called 'the orange room'. In 2008, he moved to Londen and started playing in small venues, he also opened for Nizlopi soon after this. In 2009, he released another EP called 'you need me' just before going on tour with Just Jack. In 2010, he realised 'loose change' EP which featured his later debut single "The A Team". Later that year he went to Los Angeles and started playing at open mic nights all over the city. Throughout this year, he was definetly being noticed by other artists and his fan base grew bigger through internet sites like youtube. On 8 January 2011, he released his independent EP, with this EP, he gained a lot of attention by reaching number 2 on iTunes without any promotions or labels, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week. Three months later, he put on a free show to fans at a Barfly in Camden towm. Over 1,000 fans turned up to see the show, so he ended up playing four different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Later that month, he was signed to Asylum/Atlantic Records.