Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire , and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk , he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early , Sheeran independently released the extended play No. He signed with Asylum Records the same year. It contained his first hit single, " The A Team ". It was named the second-best-selling album worldwide of The first two singles from the album, " Shape of You " and " Castle on the Hill ", broke records in a number of countries by debuting in the top two positions of the charts.
He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week. The world's best-selling artist of , he was named the Global Recording Artist of the Year. Released in , his fourth overall and first collaborative album, No. His sixth album, - " Subtract " , was released on 5 May , while his seventh album, Autumn Variations , was released on 29 September under his own record label, Gingerbread Man Records.
Sheeran has sold more than million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. In December , the Official Charts Company named him artist of the decade, with the most combined success in the UK album and singles charts in the s.
An alumnus of the National Youth Theatre in London, Sheeran's acting roles include appearing in the film Yesterday , playing himself. His father is Irish, [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] and Sheeran has stated that his father is from a "very large" Catholic family. Sheeran sang at a local church choir at the age of four, learned how to play the guitar at age eleven, [ 26 ] and began writing songs while at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham.
Sheeran began recording music in , and at the age of thirteen independently released his first collection of work, titled Spinning Man. In February , Sheeran posted a video through SB. Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan base expanded, with him also receiving praise from The Independent newspaper and Elton John.
