Ed Sheeran On Not Using A Phone Since 2015: ‘I Was Losing Real Life Interaction'

Ed Sheeran, one of the world’s most popular musicians, recently revealed in an interview that he hasn’t used a phone since 2015. Sheeran casually dropped the bombshell during a chat on the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast, when the host asked for his phone number but Sheeran offered his email address instead. During the conversation, he admitted that his team recently gave him a phone only when it was necessary for an event.

The Shape of You singer shared that he made the decision to go without a phone nearly a decade ago for personal reasons and offered an interesting explanation. He explained, “I don’t have a number. I haven’t had a phone since 2015. Got rid of it in 2015 December. I had the same number from like age 15. I got famous and I had 10,000 contacts in my phone, that would just people text the whole time and I was just constantly in touch with a lot of people."

“With phones, everyone expects you to reply and if you don’t reply it’s rude and like sometimes you’re just not in a head space to reply, you’re busy or doing whatever but then when you reply back and then they reply back and suddenly you’re in like 40 conversations at once. I found myself having dinner with my dad and then my phone was just going and you’d be thinking, ‘Who’s texting me,’ and you get it out and then suddenly you’re in conversations and I was losing real life interaction, so I got rid of it," Ed Sheeran added.

Ed Sheeran further shared that he prefers using an iPad because he can leave it in his hotel room and focus on face-to-face interactions. He shared that recently when he was out for dinner with his best friend, they enjoyed a long chat without interruptions. Sheeran feels email are better communication tool because there’s no pressure to reply instantly, unlike WhatsApp where people expect immediate responses. He believes this could lead to stress, but in emails, he can read and reply at his own pace. Sheeran admitted that when he had a phone, he often ignored messages, which he now considers rude.

Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran has a packed schedule this year. He is set to perform at Italy’s Lucca Summer Festival, Fan Fest EURO 2024, the Hurricane Festival in Germany and the Pinkpop Festival. Later, he will also be performing at Brazil’s Rock in Rio alongside other big names, including Imagine Dragons, Travis Scott, Katy Perry, Shawn Mendes and more.