Ed Sheeran Was 'Not Going to Play Music Anymore' to Focus on Fatherhood but 'Music Is Entirely Me as a Person'

Maybe he was just "Thinking Out Loud," but we're glad he chose to continue to "Sing."

Ed Sheeran considered leaving his career behind to focus on being a dad to his daughter Lyra, 11 months, but decided it was for the best for him — and his family! — that he continue making music.

"I had finished the ÷ tour and ÷ sold definitely like over 22 million copies, which is like more copies than I've ever sold with an album. The tour was heavily publicized, it was the biggest tour of all time and sold in like 19 seconds," Sheeran, 30, told SiriusXM. "And I remember standing on the Ipswich stage finishing and then getting off stage and just being like, I'm 28. And like, I don't know what to do now — I've chased and chased and chased and chased and got to this thing."

"And then in my year off, I was kind of searching for who I was because I stopped playing music for a bit. And music is entirely me as a person," he continued. "And then I had my daughter — well, my wife had our daughter, but I'm a parent. And then I was like, 'That's it, this is me, I'm just going to be a dad, I'm not going to play music anymore.'"

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran

Atlantic Records Ed Sheeran

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But who is Ed Sheeran without a guitar and music? The singer said he found himself "getting really sad" and feeling like he had "zero purpose" despite being a father.

"I suddenly was like, I think it's more important for my daughter to grow up knowing that her parents have the work ethic and her parents love working hard and love creating and enjoy their jobs and seeing that rather than like looking at your dad as technically unemployed," he said.

Sheeran added that he "slowly got back into music" and his creative process started "flowing" quite naturally.

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"But there was a long period of time where I just didn't really know. Everything was directionless. Not that success should be measured in album sales or ticket sales, because I do feel like most of my success in my mind has been measured by songs being good that I've written, but just there's an expectation from everyone around you," he said.

"[There are] people in my family that are like, 'The next album has to be even bigger,'" he added. "And I know they're saying it to be supportive, but maybe it shouldn't be, maybe it should just be an album and like maybe a career can kind of go like this [makes wave motion] rather than always up."

Speaking to James Corden on The Late Late Show last month, Sheeran said his "lifestyle" had shifted and was being a lot healthier.

"It just feels like what life was meant to be. It's great," he said. "My days are structured."

"I'm healthier than I've ever been. I'm exercising every day," Sheeran added. "I'm spending so much time at home making the record. Yeah, I feel like a human being. It's good."