Ed Sheeran reveals a secret battle with substance abuse and credits girlfriend Cherry Seaborn with pulling him back from the dark side of fame during year-long hiatus
- The singer-songwriter, 26, admitted his sudden rise to international fame affected him in a negative way
- Credited girlfriend and childhood friend, Cherry Seaborn, 24, with pulling him back from the brink
- Realized he needed to address his demons when concerned friends and family members intervened
- Sheeran did not specifically state which substance he was using, but has been open about his heavy drinking in the past
- Musician has previously detailed his experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs, claiming he once 'fell in love with a beanbag' when he was high on ecstasy
- Year-long musical hiatus came to an end in December 2016, and he released his third studio album Divide in March
- The record became the fastest selling album by a male solo artist in the UK and had the biggest first week sales of 2017 in the US
Ed Sheeran has revealed a secret battle with substance abuse, which caused him to take a year-long hiatus from the music industry.
The singer-songwriter, 26, admitted his sudden rise to international fame affected him in a negative way to the extent that he 'started slipping into' dangerous habits.
Speaking during Saturday night's forthcoming episode of The Jonathan Ross Show, the Shape Of You hitmaker credited girlfriend and childhood friend, Cherry Seaborn, 24, with pulling him back from the brink.
Speaking out: Ed Sheeran has revealed a secret battle with substance abuse, which caused him to take a year-long hiatus from the music industry
Discussing his meteoric rise to sudden fame, the British musician explained: 'I didn’t really have any growing up time into getting famous.
'I think you need to, when you get into the industry, adjust to it - and I didn’t adjust because I was constantly working on tour.
'And all the pitfalls that people read about, I just found myself slipping into all of them. Mostly, like, substance abuse.
'I never touched anything. I started slipping into it, and that’s why I took a year off and buggered off.'
Battle: The singer-songwriter, 26, admitted his sudden rise to international fame affected him in a negative way (pictured at a BRIT Awards after-party in February 2015)
Sheeran said while his problems all started off 'as a party', the situation gradually deteriorated, and he realized he needed to address his demons when concerned friends and family members intervened.
He explained to show host Jonathan Ross: 'I didn’t really notice it was happening. It just started gradually happening, and then some people took me to one side and were like, "Calm yourself down".
'It’s all fun to begin with, it all starts off as a party and then you’re doing it on your own and it’s not, so that was a wake-up call and taking a year off.'
Sheeran did not specifically state which substance he was using, but has been open about his heavy drinking in the past.
Support system: he Shape Of You hitmaker credited girlfriend and childhood friend, Cherry Seaborn, 24, with pulling him back from the brink (pictured in February)
The musician used the year-long hiatus to address his issues, and said his girlfriend of two years Cherry Seaborn was a 'real help' during the period.
He explained: 'I focused on work, and I can’t work under the influence, I can’t write songs under the influence, I can’t perform under the influence - so the more I worked the less [that happened].
'I’ve worked my whole life to get to where I am and you can’t lose that over something that you do in your spare time.'
Of the positive impact his relationship has had on his issues, he added: 'We live together now, and I think that was a real help grounding me. I was a 25 year old in the music industry on tour so I just needed someone to balance me out.'
Line-up: Speaking during Saturday night's forthcoming episode of The Jonathan Ross Show, Ed appeared alongside (L-R) Russell Howard, Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross and Gordon Ramsay
Sheeran's year-long hiatus came to an end in December 2016, and he released his third studio album Divide in March.
The record became the fastest selling album by a male solo artist in the UK and had the biggest first week sales of 2017 in the US.
Sheeran has been open about his excessive drinking habits in the past, noting that he got to the point where he was consuming alcohol every single day.
Speaking in a profile with Rolling Stone magazine earlier this year, he said: 'Often, I’m like, "Is it bad that I drink almost every single day?"
Intervention: Sheeran he realized he needed to address his demons when concerned friends and family members intervened (pictured February 2015)
'But I don't wake up and drink. I don’t depend on drink. I can go without it completely. I just enjoy going out and having fun, being 25. And I think that’s a normal thing.'
The Grammy-winning musician has also detailed his experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs, claiming he once 'fell in love with a beanbag' when he was high on ecstasy.
The singer insisted he only tried the drug once while at a wedding in Ibiza, which became the inspiration for his hit track Bloodstream.
He explained: 'I'm not a massive drug-taker, but that song was written after an experience in Ibiza and it's basically about all the feelings that I got from that time.
Clean slate: Sheeran did not specifically state which substance he was using, but has been open about his heavy drinking in the past (pictured February 2015)
Back on track: The musician used the year-long hiatus to address his issues, and said his girlfriend of two years Cherry Seaborn was a 'real help' during the period
'It was weird, because I haven't taken it since, it was literally just a one-time thing. It was MDMA and I fell in love with a beanbag. During it all I felt a lot of things: I felt anxiety, I felt love, I felt warm, I felt a bit weird.
'But I did actually go through two months where I'd been such a good boy for such a long time that I went and tried everything.'
Speaking to the Mail's EVENT magazine, Sheeran said of his drug use: 'There have been a couple of times over the past few years, but it’s not a regular thing.
'It happens when I’m under an immense amount of stress and pressure, and things just build up. But it’s not as dark as people make out. It’s educational.'
'I've never gone for anything addictive. If anything ever got out of control, I’d just switch it off, like I did with drinking. I've got no deep-seated emotional turmoil, so there's nothing really to go off the rails about.'
See the full interview with Ed Sheeran on The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV1 at 9:15pm on Saturday night.
Success story: Sheeran's year-long hiatus came to an end in December 2016, and he released his third studio album Divide in March
See the full interview with Ed Sheeran on The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV1 at 9.15pm on Saturday night.
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