Ed Sheeran shock: ‘Shape of You’ singer ‘scared’ about the idea of achieving this milestone

Ed Sheeran aspires to the same level of fame as Coldplay. The 31-year-old musician stated that he would not consider himself successful in the music industry until he achieved Coldplay and U2’s levels of popularity and career length.

When asked what his next goals or plans are, Sheeran told Access Creative College, where he is a patron:

“Coldplay have done 20 years, so I would love to get to 20 years in my career. I feel like that’s an achievable milestone. But it’s still quite scary because it’s a long way away.”

Ed revealed that he admires U2 and Coldplay for the sheer volume of hits they have produced throughout their careers. He elaborated that, compared to U2 or Coldplay, he is still in the early stages of his career. He said that U2 and Coldplay are two bands he closely follows because everything they’ve ever released has been popular and successful.

“All of their set is going to be hits. They are never going to play a B-side that people kind of know, and it’s always going to be a very impressive show. It’s just bigger, bigger, bigger, better, better, better.”

Sheeran, who has two daughters with his wife Cherry Seaborn, has previously stated that he plans to cut back on his travel after becoming a father.

He went on to say that he would be horrified if his relationship with my children had deteriorated in 20 years because I had prioritized business over them. Time is valuable to him, and he wants to spend as much time as possible with his growing children. This is why he decided he would not have another tour of the same scale or nature after the next tour.

In the interview, the singer admitted to “getting really sad” and feeling like he had “zero purposes,” although he loves being a father. He said he considered quitting his job to devote more time to his 11-month-old daughter Lyra but decided it would be best for him and his family if he “kept making music.” On the other hand, he did not proceed with his retirement plans.

He said he suddenly realized that his retirement plans were unlikely to make his children proud. He’d rather his children, or his firstborn at the time, grow up knowing their father has a strong work ethic and a professional life that he values as much as he values his child.