Global superstar Ed Sheeran has shared his love for Northern Ireland after a surprise visit to Belfast on Friday.
The Shape of You singer flew to NI after launching his new charity, The Ed Sheeran Foundation, which aims to raise the profile of UK music education and advocate for more music industry support and Government investment in talent development.
Accompanied by longtime friend Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, they visited Drake Music Northern Ireland, Hotbox Entertainment and the Oh Yeah Music Centre – three local music organisations that will benefit from the charity.
Read more: Ed Sheeran’s surprise visit to Belfast to launch new charity
Speaking at a press conference at the Oh Yeah Centre on January 10, Ed shared that a visit to a Belfast recording studio made him the “most excited” he’s been in a long time.
His time jamming at Hotbox Entertainment took him back to his youth and showed him the importance of what music can do for young people.
Ed said: “I think the most excited I’ve been in a long time was going to Hotbox Entertainment – what I loved about it is it wasn’t just Belfast rappers, there were singers, musicians.
“They were jamming and they had this band and basically did this massive cypher where everyone came in and did 16 bars of something.
“It could have been a song, it could have been a rap, it could have been a poem, it could have been a story and it took me back to being 18 and in Grimes Cypher and just the energy and excitement of it I loved.”
When asked by Belfast Live if Ed has any plans to return to Belfast in the future and see directly how the project has shaped the lives of young talent in Northern Ireland, he said he cannot wait to get back.
He said: “My main collaborator is Johnny McDade who comes from Derry and we’ve spoken about our next trip to Northern Ireland will be to Derry.
“We’ve had conversations today about opening up different things in Derry, but I know that there are already amazing things in Derry.
“There’s six major cities in Northern Ireland and we’ve now done Belfast and we’ll probably want to visit more.
“Northern Ireland is a huge part of my career – Snow Patrol gave me my first massive opportunity to go on tour in America. I’ve had Foy Vance on tour with me for years, I had Ryan McMullen on tour with me for years.”
Ed continued: “I’ve written all of my biggest hits with Johnny McDaid and I love it here.
“You should be really proud of the art that you’re putting out to the world. For such a small country to have such a massive impact culturally on the world is really important.
“But this is my point – the next generation has to come through and do it. It’s all very well and good, we’ve already done it but I want kids to be able to come through and do exactly the same thing.”
Northern Irish music legend Gary Lightbody has been an advocate for the arts in Northern Ireland since the beginning of his career and has been changing the lives of young talent through his own foundation The Lightbody Foundation over the last number of years.
He welcomed Ed’s visit to Northern Ireland and spoke passionately about the difference it will make to the industry here at home,
Gary said: “I’ve never been more proud to be from here than today
“We really put on the show today – Ed ended up freestyling rapping with the Hotbox guys and it was just so inspiring and so much fun.
“The arts are not funded in Northern Ireland the same way that they are funded in the rest of the UK and Ireland… so when we are talking about getting more funding for the arts, it’s not at the deficit of education and healthcare and infrastructure and all the important things that we need to survive, it is to try and get some sort of at least parity with other places inUK and Ireland.
“What Ed is doing is an extraordinary thing because no one else is doing it – not only putting a light on this and putting his considerable weight and fame behind it and his personality but actually putting money behind it as well, a lot of money.
“It really is an extraordinary thing and I’ve never been more proud to show one of my dear friends around my home city, but it’s well, well needed what you’re [Ed] doing and massive thank you from Northern Ireland.”
Check out our gallery below from Ed Sheeran and Gary Lightbody’s visit to Belfast…