Earlier this month, Ed Sheeran shared a candid Instagram post detailing a tumultuous period of his life.
Ed, who shared the post to announce the upcoming release of his album Subtract, recalled “a series of events” that occurred across 2022 that had unexpectedly changed his life and mental state.
“At the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art,” he wrote.
First, Ed revealed that his wife, Cherry Seaborn, had discovered a tumor while she was pregnant with their second child. The little girl was born in May 2022, and at the time, Ed announced the news without sharing any additional information about Cherry’s health.
But this year, in his recent Instagram post, Ed divulged that Cherry’s pregnancy experience had actually been extremely difficult.
And Ed also revealed that this occurred within a month of his best friend Jamal Edwards’s sudden death.
Jamal, who was a hugely influential music entrepreneur and DJ, died unexpectedly in February 2022 at the age of 31. He famously helped launch Ed’s career with his SBTV YouTube channel, and the pair shared a super close friendship.
At the time of the tragic death, Ed wrote of Jamal, “His light shone so bright. He only used it to illuminate others and never asked for anything in return. A stars light shines for millions of years after they go, and his will continue to light up every dark moment, we are all witnessing his power.”
And in his Instagram post from this month, Ed wrote that “within the space of a month” Jamal — whom he described as his “brother” — “died suddenly,” while Cherry found out she had a tumor “with no route to treatment until after the birth.”
Ed also seemingly mentioned his infamous copyright lawsuit of April 2022, writing in his post, “I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter.” Ed was sued for copyright infringement by artists Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue. He won the case.
“I was spiraling through fear, depression, and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air,” he wrote.
Now, Ed is set to detail these hardships even further in a brand-new docuseries on Disney+.
The four-part series, titled Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All, will be released on May 3 — just days ahead of Subtract.
The newly released trailer begins by charting Ed’s “unlikely” rise to fame, with the singer even giving a shoutout to Jamal for being the “one person” to believe in his potential early on.
The footage later shows Ed gushing about his love for Cherry, saying: “Everything in my life got so much better when Cherry got into it. I got married, and I’m a dad who’s got two daughters.”
However, the tone of the docuseries changes when Ed mentions the deterioration of Cherry’s health during her pregnancy.
Ed appears solemn as he describes Cherry’s health as “really bad,” while the trailer appears to show a shot of the couple in a hospital.
Going on to address Jamal’s death shortly afterward, Ed can be heard saying, “And then suddenly, my best friend Jamal dies,” while several clips of the late music pioneer play onscreen. The trailer then shows Ed breaking down into tears.
“The loss, it just took over my life,” he later adds, before describing life as “unpredictable” and saying, “plans can change really quickly.”
