Ed Sheeran was told to ‘get a real job’ rather than pursuing music

Virgin Radio

17 Aug 2021, 12:50

We’ve probably all been guilty of giving bad advice at some point in our lives, but none as bad as telling Ed Sheeran not to pursue a career in music!

Speaking to The Sunday Mirror’s Watts the Goss column, the multi-award winning singer/songwriter told of his aspirations as a child to become a musician, and how the idea was dismissed by adults. “I think kids should be encouraged to be creative," he said. "When I was a child, saying you wanted to be a musician, they’d go, ‘You need to get a real job.’”

He went on to say: “School is so stressful. You’ve got all these exams – maths, English and science – all these things are very difficult. But what I want to say to kids is if you do what you love, you will eventually get paid for it.”

Ed’s latest single, Bad Habits, has now spent seven weeks on top of the UK singles chart.

Talking about his own career’s highs and lows, and what he has taken from them, the musician told The Sunday Mirror, “I have played Wembley Stadium and I’ve played a bar in Swindon to one person.

“And playing the bar in Swindon taught me more than Wembley Stadium.”

Whilst Ed is clearly very encouraging of young people pursuing their dreams, he has admitted that he isn’t sure whether he would want his own daughter, Lyra, to follow in his footsteps. Talking on the Table Manners podcast recently, he said: “I think it's from being in the music industry - I’m like, ‘I would not wish this on my child.’”

Further explaining his reasoning, he said, “I would hate for her to be known as my daughter rather than just Lyra, I want her to have own identity.”

With Lyra's mum, Cherry, being a hockey player, Ed added, “I think Lyra will be more sporty.”