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Ed Sheeran, we know today is a youth sensation but do you know how his life was before stardom knocked at his door? Well, he dealt with many struggles in establishing himself but what makes his story remarkable is the fact that in spite of dealing with so much negativity all around, he never let it affect his determination. This never-say-never attitude helped him establish himself as the biggest male popstar on the planet. His journey from being a bullied singer to an award-winning male popstar, wasn’t an easy one! If you wish to know more about his success story, this blog is going to be an interesting read for you!
Early Life of Ed Sheeran
An English singer, music composer, guitarist and song producer, Ed Sheeran was born on 17 February 1991, in Halifax, New Yorkshire (England). However, later on with his family he moved to Framlingham in Suffolk. He has one elder brother, Matthew, who works as a music composer and his parents used to run an art consultancy when he was young. Sheeran, says, back in school he struggled in socializing with his mates. His love for music was from an early age when he was particularly fond of playing guitars. He was also a part of the music choir of his school. It was soon enough that people around him started noticing his talent.
“It was my love for the guitar that first got me into music and singing.”
Embracing the Struggles
When Sheeran was young, he underwent a surgery that left him with a lazy eye and a speech disorder. Because of this, he was bullied and made fun of every day in school. Tired of this, he stopped participating. The most remarkable thing was that he never faced difficulty in speaking when it came to making music and singing. His red hair added to the bullying he faced back in school; he was called a ginger boy. However, with time he realized that him being attractive or not is of no help if he wants to do something big in life. He says this realization is what saved him as a musician.
“Being ginger can seem like a bad thing when you are young but as a musician it has been my saving grace – because if you see a ginger kid on TV and there is only one messy-haired ginger kid who plays guitar, it is very easy to find them on YouTube.”
Start of a Remarkable Journey of Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran took speech therapy but it was of no help. He feared that for the rest of his life he would be like that. It was then that his father decided to help him get over his fear and gave him Eminem’s records. Sheeran was absolutely amazed by Eminem’s rapping skills. He was very inspired and this significantly helped him get over his speech disorder. His stutter was completely gone when he began composing music and performing live. Ed Sheeran knew music was what kept him alive and he was highly motivated to do something about it.
Soon, he began performing at different venues, which escalated to twelve shows every week. He had his CDs selling around in the following years. When he was 14, he headed to London, to give his career in music a fresh kick start. However, his initial days weren’t as easy. He slept in the subways and parks when he couldn’t find an appropriate shelter. He auditioned for prominent singers, performed at live shows and prepared his own music.
The potential social media had was not noticed by many back then. Ed Sheeran carefully analyzed this potential and started posting videos online, it was then that he was noticed by a rapper who liked his style and requested him to do shows together. Soon his online presence became highly visible. Sheeran knew that if he had to make it big in the music industry, America was the place.
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Ed Sheeran Before he was Famous at 16 Years of age!
To the Biggest Male Popstar and The Youth Icon of Gen Z
In LA, he tried to reach out to all the music personalities he could, and one fine day he was finally noticed by Jamie Foxx, a local radio host. He began recording at Jamie’s studio and soon enough hit #2 on iTunes, after which he was called to work with Atlantic Records. This helped him create his own music album “+”. Eventually, it became a hit and went straight to #1 in America and UK. In 2016, he was bestowed with ‘The Grammy Award’ for the ‘best song of the year’.
His journey to success was surely a very inspiring one and brings hope for kids who don’t believe in themselves. Ed Sheeran says it was his belief and faith in himself that led him to become the biggest male popstar and youth icon that he is today. He makes it a point to always maintain his authenticity through his lyrics and personality as a pop artist. It is always tales like these that inspire us to take a leap of faith and build a future for ourselves that we truly wish for. For more such inspiring content, stay connected to Leverage Edu on LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Quora, and Instagram!
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