Ed Sheeran has said that in the first decade of his career he was intensely unhappy because there was no balance between work and personal life. He explained that while his music reached chart-topping heights, the price was paid in his personal life, with little time for relationships, family or friends. He told The Sun, "I think in the first decade of my career I was intensely unhappy as I had no balance, I was just work, work, work," and added, "And yes, everything was hyper-successful, but it was hyper-successful because I had no personal life at all."
Now, after releasing his eighth studio album Play last week, the star says he has slowed down. He described 16-hour workdays in the early days and said he has taken his foot off the gas to focus more on family and being a dad and husband.
Sheeran is married to Cherry Seaborn since 2019; they have two children, Lyra, five, and Jupiter, three. They are private about their relationship. At a recent Spotify Q&A in London, he spoke about real conflict in their marriage and stressed the importance of honesty in relationships. He said, "Cherry knows I write about everything - not just the good stuff. Songs like 'Perfect' exist, but so do the ones about real conflict." He added that his focus now is more on family and friends than just work: "In my early career, it was 100 per cent work, 0 per cent personal life. Now it's 70 per cent family, 30 per cent music."
Reflecting on looking back at his life, he said he wants to say: "When I look back at these years with my family and friends, I want to say: I lived those days and I enjoyed every minute."
One of his new songs is written for Cherry; he said: "Cherry heard the Bono story about missing his wife's birthday and writing her a song, so it inspired me to gift her one. It's a personal moment that exists only for her."