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Ed Sheeran started a second Instagram account to celebrate his upcoming single “Old Phone”. The account @teddysoldphone gives a very personal and nostalgic insight into the life and career of the British singer-songwriter-with the help of content from an old cell phone, which he put down in 2015.
There are numerous, previously unpublished photos, text messages, handwritten lyrics, notes and more. The account acts like a digital time capsule that documents intimate moments from Sheeran’s past – including early memories with his wife and youth love Cherry Seaborn, a selfie with Harry Styles at the 2012 Olympic Games and also a touching news of his father after a appearance with Stevie Wonder.
Photos, notes and memories from another time
Further posts show backstage recordings with Taylor Swift, Calvin Harris and One Direction, as well as emotional memories of Sheerans deceased friends and companions Mac Miller and Jamal Edwards, founder of the music platform Sb.Tv. The first designs on hits such as “Bloodstream” and “Love Yourself” can also be seen, as well as private notes such as “Eat Healthy” in his note app at the time.
The account @teddysoldphone went online a month before the release of his new single “Old Phone” on Thursday, April 29, at 11 a.m. ET online, as the four-fold Grammy winner confirmed in a contribution.
“Old Phone” is the second decoupling from Sheeran’s upcoming album that will be entitled “Play”. The first single “Azizam”, inspired by the Persian legacy of the producer Illya Salmanzadeh, means “my dear” on Farsi and reached 28th place on the Billboard Hot 100.
Songwriting at Jetlag in India
Regarding the new song, Sheeran wrote in a post on the new account: “I wrote ‘Old Phone’ all alone at 2 a.m. when I suffered from Jetlag in India and finished the album – and still recorded it the same morning. It feels like a song that would have belonged to my debut album, but also like one that I could only write after real life experiences.”
He continued: “It makes me emotionally singing him – I hope he also triggers something with you. Maybe you will also switch on your old cell phone and look at where you stood ten years ago. Whatever the song does – I am glad that I wrote it.”
Read the whole post here:
Inspiration through an old phone – and a court trial
The trigger for the track was a special moment: During a copyright proceedings because of his “Thinking Out Loud” ballad published in 2014, Sheeran switched on his old cell phone again to view past content. Marvin Gaye’s heirs had accused him of taking over elements from “Let’s get it on”. However, Sheeran was acquitted in November 2024 – a jury came to the conclusion that he wrote the song regardless of the classic.
“It threw me out of the track when I turned on my cell phone”
Sheeran described the moment as follows: “It felt like a time capsule, like a phase of life in which I was in 2015. It completely threw me out of the track when I switched on my cell phone – I scroll through news and conversations with people who are no longer there today … I found old photos of me with people, to whom I had no close connection today. Trip.”
In keeping with the topic, Sheeran also came up with something new for his appearance at this year’s Coachella Festival: he built up a specially designed British pop-up pub called “The Old Phone”, where he first performed the song live.
Sheerans “+-= ÷ x” tour 2025: Germany dates
Ed Sheeran will also appear in Germany in 2025 as part of his “+-= ÷ X” tour-tickets are already available. The known dates are:
Stuttgart, Mhparena:
Hamburg, Volksparkstadion:
- 04.07.2025
- 05.07.2025
- 06.07.2025
Düsseldorf, Merkur Spiel-Arena:
- 05.09.2025
- 06.09.2025
- 07.08.2025