Ed Sheeran is very aware of the contradictions at the heart of his superstardom. The first line of his new Disney+ documentary, The Sum of It All, finds the multi-platinum songwriter declaring: “I’m speccy, ginger hair, really short, English, from the countryside, who stutters and beatboxes. That guy doesn’t become a pop star.” Yet 16 Grammy nominations, 14 UK No 1 singles and 150m record sales later, here we are.
His success has brought with it another paradox. For one of the biggest pop stars in the world, Sheeran’s presumably gigantic hardcore fanbase is unusually quiet compared to stans of other superstar acts: Swifties, the BeyHive or the Styles-loving Harries. It’s quite possible that you had no idea they’re known as the Sheerios, a sobriquet that lacks immediate brand recognition. While the documentary shows jubilant fans singing along at his stadium shows, wearing DIY T-shirts bearing the mathematical symbols Sheeran has named his albums after, they rarely get into conflagrations online; unlike Styles, Swift or even Drake admirers, there’s little wider sense of a distinct fan culture with its own language, memes and even infighting.
