Sophia Michaels
Without Queen Elizabeth II, Ed Sheeran might not have become the international star performer we know him as now. During a recent appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert – immediately after explaining his habit of gifting friends giant penis statues – the musician recalled the life-changing formative experience of watching the Golden Jubilee, an extravagant event held to celebrate 50 years on the throne.
“It was in 2002, I was 11 years old, and I didn’t play the guitar at that time,” he began the story. “I was watching this thing on television, Eric Clapton comes on and does the first opening bit of ‘Layla’ and I’m like, what is that? He finishes the song, and I knew in that instant I want to be that. I want to have a guitar and I want to sing on stage. Then, ten years later, I’m playing the same thing – and I’ve just played the one ten years on from that, as well. It’s bonkers.”
Sheeran performed his breakout single “The A Team” at Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 before taking the stage again for the Platinum Jubilee celebration earlier this year in a special tribute, playing his 2017 hit “Perfect.” He said he hopes that an 11-year-old watching his performances at home shared the same moment of realization that he had while watching all those years ago.
While Sheeran didn’t have too many run-ins with the Queen before her death at age 96 last month, he does have a rather iconic photo with the late royal from on the few times they met. The photo shows the Queen flashing a beaming smile at him — but the singer revealed that she wasn’t actually all that moved by his presence.
“She was smiling when she met me, but that was really, really early stages of my career – I’d released like one hit single, and I was playing her jubilee,” he explained. “But I was next to a really famous comedian who cracked a joke while she was shaking my hand, so I’ve got this picture of her delighted to see me. But I remember Kylie taking me over to the Queen and being like, ‘This is Ed Sheeran’ and the Queen being like [shrugs] and then hearing the joke and then laughing, and that was the picture.”
