The hurdles Ed Sheeran overcame last year as new album and UK tour are announced

Ed Sheeran made fans ‘Shiver’ on 1 March as the award-winning singer not only announced a brand new album called Subtract but also revealed a six-date UK and European tour starting this month.

The news that Ed would be visiting Manchester, London, Glasgow, Dublin and Paris over the next two months comes after he launched his own hot sauce this week and made a return to social media after a two-month break.

Ed’s Instagram hiatus is not uncommon as the 32-year-old tends to take a step back from posting at the end of each year, however the most recent social media pause followed a very ‘turbulent’ year for Ed after he overcame many hurdles.

He told his 42.4 million followers: "The reason I'm making this video is, just being totally honest, I've had some turbulent things going on in my personal life so I just didn't really feel like being online and pretending to be something I'm not, when I wasn't feeling like that…[but] things are looking up."

While the ‘Shape of You’ hitmaker did not go into specifics in the Instagram video, Ed had to handle a lot last year in both his personal and professional life, which he commented on in a TikTok when announcing his new album.

Ed explained how writing songs is his 'therapy' and although he had been working on Subtract for a decade, the events at the start of last year, all within in a month's span, ultimately changed his views and he ended up replacing his entire catalogue with his 'deepest darkest thoughts'.

In February 2022, Ed Sheeran’s best friend and 'brother' Jamal Edwards, who helped kickstart Ed’s career by posting singing videos to his YouTube SBTV, passed away from cardiac arrest.

Ed paid tribute to his late friend in a freestyle rap called F64 where he revealed he had been staying at Jamal’s family home with his Mum Brenda Edwards for weeks to grieve. 

In the TikTok that now has amassed 1.7 million views, Ed continued to explain that his wife, Cherry Seaborn, who was expecting their second daughter Jupiter, had found out she had a tumour that could not be treated until after birth.

While Ed found comfort with Jamal's family in a time of grief and battled through Cherry's diagnosis, Ed and Cherry were able to welcome Jupiter in May, sharing the news on Instagram with a pair of white baby socks on top of a brown blanket. 

The ‘Bad Habits’ singer had previously questioned whether he would carry on playing music after his first daughter’s birth, but felt that he needed to continue to inspire his children and show them their parent’s work ethic.

However, Ed commented on his TikTok that he had also found himself 'standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter' after he faced a third copyright trial in September 2022 for Thinking Out Loud, after previously winning a case in April for 'Shape of You'.

Despite the numerous set backs the singer faced as well as battling 'fear, depression and anxiety', Ed also undertook a massive feat last year while grieving his friend and preparing for the birth of Jupiter by embarking on the highest-grossing tour of all time.

While Ed began the Mathematics tour in April 2022 in Ireland and finished the European leg in September, he will venture back to North America for the first time in five years between May and September of this year.

The Mathematics tour also took Ed ‘Down Under’ where he attended a children’s hospital and performed a surprise concert for the ill patients.

Despite the hurdles Ed has had to overcome in the last year, he has remained a true professional and has hit the ground running in 2023 with added tour dates in UK and Europe and a new album.

Fans can pre-order the Subtract album before 9am on 7 March via Ed Sheeran’s website which can also provide early access to the ticket’s pre-sale the following day at 9am.

General sale will be launched on Friday 10 March at 9am, on Ticketmaster and the artist’s website.