Ed Sheeran, known for his chart-topping hits like “Shape of You,” has made a surprising revelation: he hasn’t used a mobile phone since 2015. In a candid conversation on the June 5 episode of “Therapuss with Jake Shane,” Sheeran shared how this unconventional choice has shaped his life.
The 33-year-old musician explained that he parted ways with his phone nearly a decade ago to improve his quality of life. “I haven’t had a phone since 2015,” Sheeran confessed. This decision surfaced during the show when he offered to give host Jake Shane his email address instead of a phone number. “I don’t have a number,” he stated, assuring Shane that it wasn’t a brush-off.
Sheeran recently got a phone from his team for specific situations, like when he attended the Boston Celtics game with singer Reneé Rapp during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 23. However, he clarified that it’s primarily for capturing videos for social media rather than for daily communication. “It’s not like an active working phone,” he emphasized.
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The catalyst for this drastic change was the realization in December 2015 of the overwhelming number of contacts in his phone. “I had the same number from age 15,” Sheeran recounted, “and I got famous and had 10,000 contacts. People would text constantly, and I was always in touch with too many people.”
This constant influx of messages created pressure to respond promptly, adding stress to his life. “With phones, everyone expects you to reply, and if you don’t, it’s seen as rude,” he explained. “Sometimes you’re just not in the right headspace, or you’re busy, but then you reply, they reply back… and suddenly you’re in like 40 conversations at once.”
Sheeran ultimately felt that this constant communication was eroding his real-life interactions. “I just was losing real-life interaction, so I got rid of my phone,” he said. Instead, he uses an iPad and handles communication through email, which he checks once a week. This method, he believes, is a “better way” to manage time and reduce stress from endless texting.
Currently, Ed Sheeran is busy with a string of festival performances. In May, he wowed audiences at the Boston Calling Music Festival and BottleRock Napa Valley Festival. This month, his schedule includes Italy’s Lucca Summer Festival, Fan Fest EURO 2024, Germany’s Hurricane Festival, and the Netherlands’ Pinkpop Festival.