The unlikely love-in between The Darkness and Ed Sheeran shows no sign of slowing down, with the Shape Of You hitmaker playing a surprise opening set at the Suffolk rockers’ London show – and later joining them onstage for a version their 2003 hit single Love Is Only A Feeling.
Sheeran played an unannounced six song set before The Darkness’ headlining appearance at London’s Roundhouse on Saturday December 9. He later emerged to sing and play guitar with Justin Hawkins and co on Love Is Only A Feeling.
The mutual admiration between the two acts perhaps isn’t that surprising. In the news Darkness documentary, Welcome To The Darkness, the Suffolk-born Sheeran revealed that he had been a fan of the band since he was young, saying that “they didn’t take themselves too seriously.”
Sheeran has put his money in the past where his mouth was by inviting the band to support him at two hometown gigs in Ipswich in 2019. “The crowd started off with their fingers in their ears,” Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins told Guitar World of their Sheeran opening slots. “But by the end they had their hands in the air. It was a massive success, actually.”
It’s not the first time Sheeran has shown off his rock/metal cred. Bring Me The Horizon remixed the singer’s 2021 single Bad Habits, later releasing a full studio version of the song. The Sheffield band joined Sheeran onstage at the Brit Awards 2022 to perform Bad Habits.
Sheeran has also worked with Cradle Of Filth on an as-yet-unreleased charity collaboration. Cradle Of Filth singer Dani Filth told Metal Hammer earlier this year: “It’s exactly how you can imagine it’ll sound, if you can imagine Ed Sheeran with Cradle Of Filth. He plays acoustic guitar on it, but it’s heavy: it’s got a blastbeat in there. It’s a bit of everything.”
Watch Ed Sheeran’s surprise appearance with The Darkness below.
