Ed Sheeran is one of the most popular singer-songwriters of the 21st century. He first rose to success with his song 'The A Team' in 2011 and since then, his career has gone from strength to strength, and he has had many number-one singles and albums. Not to mention, he's developed friendships with some of the biggest names in the industry, like Taylor Swift.
Fans already know that Ed has worked hard to get where he is. However, one fact about Sheeran that even the biggest fans of the star may not know is that as a child he suffered from a stutter, which could have gone on to potentially affect his singing career. Despite this, he was able to overcome the stutter and did so by using an unusual method.
Ed Sheeran Used To Have A Stutter
Sheeran also has a sixth studio album on the way, 'Subtract', which releases in May 2023. It is said to feature songs that were written about his wife's illness, the death of his close friend, and his plagiarism court case, which all led him into a pit of fear, depression, and anxiety throughout 2022.
But these aren't the only struggles Ed has overcome. In fact, it might have seemed unfathomable to the singer that he would ever reach the level of success he has today.
A little-known fact about Sheeran is that when he was growing up, he had a stutter. Long ago, he had difficulties with communicating, let alone singing.
He believes that this stems from the fact that he was born with a port-wine birthmark on his face and that he had to have laser therapy for it. The medical team never put him under anesthetic, which Sheeran believes caused his stutter.
He grew up with the stutter and said as a child, he was worried that his stutter would never stop. This also appeared to affect his school life as he has previously admitted that as a school child, having a stutter made him feel different — something that no child in school wants to feel like.
Sheeran said this was mostly down to the fact that if his teacher asked a question, and he put his hand up to answer it, even though he definitely knew what the answer was, he would struggle to get the words out, meaning that answering the question would often take longer than it should have.
This was all as a part of reading a CBeebies bedtime story on the children's channel, with Sheeran reading the book I Talk Like A River by Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith, however, he then went on to tell the viewers at home that even though he thought his stutter would hold him back, he is now able to sing and hold conversations with others.
So even though Sheeran no longer has a stutter, he still uses his experience with it for good. It was also at the American Institute for Stuttering Gala in 2015 that he first spoke about his stutter and how he was able to overcome it.
How Did Ed Sheeran Overcome His Stutter?
It was actually Sheeran's Dad who unintentionally helped him overcome his stutter. Sheeran had initially tried a number of methods to try and help cure his stutter, including homeopathy and herbs; but none of these methods seemed to do the trick.
That was when his Dad bought him Eminem's 'Marshall Mathers LP', after being told by a friend that he was the next up-and-coming artist, and he thought his son might like to listen to some of his songs; as well as hoping that becoming a fan of his music might make Sheeran more popular among his peers.
Regardless of whether his initial plan helped, what Sheeran's dad did help with was curing his stutter. After spending hours on end listening to this record, Sheeran was able to memorize all the words and due to the rhythm of them, it eventually led to his stutter no longer being a problem.
Even though Sheeran's stutter supposedly being cured by Eminem might be weird within itself, in a broader sense, this is actually really normal and is a form of speech therapy to help cure stutters. It helps strengthen and stimulate the muscles that are involved with speech and, over time, can lead to speaking without stuttering.
As well as Sheeran, other singers such as Elvis Presley and Kendrick Lamar have also had a stutter in the past but have since managed to resolve it. But one thing's for certain, having a stutter clearly hasn't prevented Sheeran or any of the others from achieving their dreams of getting into the music industry.
With Sheeran being forthright about his struggles, not just about his stutter but also his mental health challenges, fans can relate to him (and his music) even more.