Ed Sheeran has credited rapper Eminem with curing his childhood stammer.
During a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, the “Bad Habits” singer shared that when he was nine, his uncle gifted him Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP.
“By learning that record and rapping it back to back to back to back, it cured my stutter,” Sheeran said.
The pop singer has previously spoken about his stutter, explaining in a 2015 interview that it developed after he underwent laser surgery to remove a facial birthmark.
“One day, they forgot to put the anaesthetic on, and ever since then, I had a stutter,” Sheeran said at the time.
Later, the singer spoke with host Stern about his friendship with Eminem, which developed after they met in 2017.
“I think it’s different with Eminem because he is quite reclusive, doesn’t see or meet that many people,” Sheeran said. “I’ve known him now six years and we’ve done three songs together, I’ve played with him twice on stage. He’s another person I really relate to, as he lives in his hometown still and has his ecosystem around him.”
In 2020, the two performed Eminem’s 2000 song “Stan” featuring Dido, at the rapper’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Sheeran, who was shooting a music video when he received a phone call asking him to perform, remembered thinking: “I can’t say no. I can’t. So, I got a plane straight after my music video, flew there for the song, and then that night flew back. It was really worth it.”
On 5 May, Sheeran dropped his latest album, Subtract, which The Independent’s Roisin O’Connor praised for its beautifully pared-back musicianship in her three-star review.
The record’s release came on the back of Sheeran’s copyright infringement lawsuit victory, in which he was sued by the heirs of Ed Townsend, the songwriter who composed “Let’s Get It On” with Marvin Gaye.
They alleged that Sheeran’s 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud” copied harmonic progressions, melodic and rhythmic elements from the 1973 anthem without permission.
