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01st Mar 2023

Ed Sheeran reveals wife’s tumour diagnosis

Charlie Herbert

Ed Sheeran

His wife’s tumour diagnosis was one of several events in early 2022 that caused Sheeran to ‘spiral’ into depression

Ed Sheeran has revealed that his wife Cherry was diagnosed with a tumour while pregnant with the couple’s second child.

The singer made the revelation in a post on Instagram announcing his upcoming sixth album ‘Subtract.’

He married his childhood sweetheart, Cherry Seaborn, in 2019. But last year, while pregnant with their second child, she was told she had a tumour that couldn’t be treated until after the pregnancy.

This, along with the death of his close friend Jamal Edwards and his copyright trial, led to Sheeran ‘spiralling’ into depression.

He wrote that these events “changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music” and were what inspired the songs on the upcoming album.

Sheeran and Seaborn welcomed their second daughter last May. The singer did not provide an update on his wife’s health.

In the Instagram post, Sheeran wrote: “I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be.”

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But following the events at the start of 2022, he scrapped these songs and “replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.”

He continued: “Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth.

“My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly, and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter.

“I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.”

“As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life.

“This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time, I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.

“This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”

The album will act as the conclusion to his ‘mathematical era’. This long-planned project began with ‘+’ (Plus) in 2011, and continued with ‘x’ (Multiply), ‘÷’ (Divide) and ‘=’ (Equals).

‘-‘ is due to be released on May 5, and will range from “paired back, folk-leaning textures to bolder, full-band/orchestral arrangements,” according to a press release from Sheeran’s record label, Atlantic.

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