00:00His image might be that of an eternal teenager, but Ed Sheeran is now 34 years old and 20 years into his music career.
00:09200 million records sold and 120 billion streams.
00:16Able to light up a giant stadium as a lone figure on some of the biggest stages in the world.
00:22Despite all that, Ed Sheeran has never lost his boyish spirit, even if he's also done a little growing up.
00:28I used to not care at all what I wore. I would wear four-day-old T-shirts and I wouldn't change my socks and stuff like that. I take better care of myself now.
00:40But the English musician's formative years are still with him and inform his creativity today.
00:47People always made fun of my hair at school. I think you have to have some sort of edge at school, maybe not fit in and not be cool to form a personality.
00:58I think being weird makes you individual and it allows you to be childish in your exploration of stuff.
01:06I think that most of my music has come from me just trying things and not being scared if people think it's weird.
01:12His new record, his eighth studio album is called Play, and he taps into that playful spirit to experiment with different genres, like the Persian influences in Azizam.
01:31And the Punjabi music that inspired Sapphire.
01:42He's worked with fellow artists from across the world and from varied musical traditions to share universal messages.
01:53I'm always writing songs that some people can connect to. So I think that, yeah, relatability comes through emotion, I think, because we all feel the same things.
02:02Something that Ed Sheeran's superstar status hasn't changed, no matter how far he's come from his days as a teen busker.
02:10Nice one, guys. Thank you.
02:12I'm going to go get ready for the show now.
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