ABC/Paula LoboEd Sheeran‘s album Divide is a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum worldwide smash. That’s why he’s determined to remove any pressure he might have to match its success with his next album…by essentially sabotaging his own career.
Speaking to his pal, “Budapest” singer George Ezra, on George’s new podcast, Ed says his incredible success has put him in what he considers to be a “dangerous” position.
“I feel like it’s dangerous to have a career that goes bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger…because at some point it’s gonna drop,” he tells George. “I’m of the belief you can control your own destiny. And I’m not gonna allow myself to fall. So I might just step down.”
Ed explains that he’ll do that with his next album, which is “not a pop album” — because, as he claims, “the next album, people are gonna be like ‘Well, it has to be bigger than “Shape of You.”‘ By avoiding pop altogether, Ed reasons, there won’t be any expectations.
“If I control it, and I’m like, ‘Here’s a lo-fi record that I really love,’ my fans are gonna be like ‘Yay!'” Ed predicts. “And the pop world [is] gonna be like, ‘Oh, well…maybe the next one.'”
As a result, Ed says even if his next album sells as few as 500,000 copies, “it’s not a failure because I’ve made an album where I’m not trying to get there, so it’s not a failure.”
“No one’s going to be like, ‘That’s a flop,'” he adds. “It’s just, “‘That’s what he wants to do.'”
“And then…[if] the next record does a little bit better, then suddenly you’re a success again!” Ed concludes. “You control your thing. And for me that’s definitely the next step, is to control it.”
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