Ed Sheeran said he plans to move to the United States for the foreseeable future, telling podcast hosts he and his family will be "settling" there while he tours.

Speaking on the 2 Johnnies podcast, the 34-year-old singer-songwriter said he was preparing to relocate to America because his tour schedule requires a more permanent base. "I'm just about to move to America. I feel like I might be the only person moving to America," he said. "I'm going on tour there for a while and I have a family so I can't dip in and out. We're going and settling there."

Sheeran did not specify a city in the United States, but has previously said that Nashville is his favourite US city and that he hopes to transition into country music. Earlier this year he told interviewer Louis Theroux, "When you transition to country, you can’t transition back. Nashville is my favourite city in the States and it’s always been my end goal to move to Nashville and transition to country."

The singer, who owns a substantial property portfolio estimated at about £70 million, recently purchased a roughly £9 million home in New York. He and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, maintain their primary residence at the Sheeranville estate in Suffolk, where they live with their daughters, Lyra, five, and Jupiter, three.

Two months before announcing plans to relocate, Sheeran attracted public attention after saying on The Louis Theroux Podcast that he "class[es] [his] culture as Irish." Born and raised in Suffolk, he said his father is from Belfast and that he spent holidays in Ireland and grew up with traditional Irish music. "I identify culturally as Irish, but I was obviously born and raised in Britain," he said, adding that he felt proud of his Irish cultural roots and that identity can reflect upbringing as much as birthplace.

Comments on social media were mixed. Some posts criticised the singer's self-description; others defended his right to identify with his family heritage. One user asked, "Does Ed Sheeran hold eligibility to start for the Irish national football team?" while another wrote, "You can be born and raised in England and still identify culturally as Irish." Several responses noted Sheeran's familial ties to Ireland and his musical connections there.

Sheeran's move to the United States follows years of international touring and recording. He has frequently split time between his UK home and work abroad, and his stated plans reflect a desire to reduce transatlantic travel while maintaining family stability during extended tours.

The singer's comments about relocating and about cultural identity come amid a broader, ongoing conversation about nationality and heritage. In interviews he has described Ireland as "basically my second home, musically," and he has credited Irish audiences and traditional music with playing a formative role in his development as an artist.

For now, Sheeran's public statements outline two related priorities: establishing a more permanent presence in the United States while he tours, and pursuing musical directions — including country — that he has said are best pursued from American music centers such as Nashville. He has not given a timetable for the move beyond saying it is imminent, nor has he specified where his family will be based.