Ed Sheeran has revealed he had to have an awkward conversation with Elton John about how he often mispronounces his name, even though the two have known each other for 15 years.
On Friday, the 34-year-old singer joined Capital Breakfast’s Jordan North, Chris Stark, and Sian Welby to discuss his new single Azizam, which was released on the same day, as well as his upcoming eighth studio album.
During the interview, the presenters wanted to know Ed’s thoughts on Elton frequently mispronouncing his name and shared a video of Elton doing so.
Kicking off the conversation, Chris said: ‘Got to ask you this, right? So we went to Elton John’s house this week… We need to settle something. Have a listen to this.
He then played an audio clip of Elton from a Capital interview where he said: ‘I mean Ed Sheer-an playing in living rooms.’
Ed laughed and admitted that he previously had an ‘awkward conversation’ with the music legend to clear up how to pronounce his name.
Ed Sheeran recently admitted he had to have an awkward conversation with Elton John about how he often mispronounces his name, even though the two have known each other for 15 years
On Friday, the singer, 34, joined Capital Breakfast’s Jordan North, Chris Stark, and Sian Welby to discuss his new single Azizam, which was released on the same day, as well as his upcoming album
The presenters wanted to know Ed’s thoughts on Elton frequently mispronouncing his name and shared a video of Elton (pictured this month) doing so in a previous interview
He explained: ‘I’ve actually had the awkward conversation with him being like “I’ve known you for 15 years, it’s not Sheer-an” but it’s just one of those things. I actually have had that conversation.’
Chris responded: ‘You can’t argue with him can you.’ to which Ed replied: ‘Well I can, I can and I do, but, but I don’t know it’s quite nice…’
Jordan then added: ‘It’s kind of like when your nan just says something, and you know she said it wrong and you just have to go with it haven’t you.’
Admitting that he will always be “Ed Sheer-an” to Elton, Ed chimed in: ‘And it’s just his way, it’s like how my parents always call me Edward, I’m not Ed to them, always Edward and I’ll always be Ed Sheer-an to Elton.’
Elsewhere during the interview, Ed revealed the title of his next single and shared that he plans to release a new song every month until his album is out.
When discussing Azizam and what fans should expect from the upcoming album, Ed said: ‘More of the same. It’s like more playful. The next song coming out is a bit more classic me.
He continued: ‘I guess it’s like a sad, acoustic, upbeat. It’s called Old Phone which comes out in like a month. Basically, I’m going to be putting out a song pretty much every month till the record comes.’
The Perfect hitmaker will release his eighth studio album, Play, later this year, and has already dropped the album’s first single, Azizam, on April 4.
Kicking off the conversation, Chris said: ‘Got to ask you this, right? So we went to Elton John’s house this week… We need to settle something. Have a listen to this.
He then played an audio clip of Elton from a Capital interview where he said: ‘I mean Ed Sheer-an playing in living rooms’
Ed laughed and admitted that he previously had an ‘awkward conversation’ with the music legend to clear up how to pronounce his name
He explained: ‘I’ve actually had the awkward conversation with him being like “I’ve known you for 15 years, it’s not Sheer-an” but it’s just one of those things’
While a specific release date for Play has not yet been announced, Ed has confirmed that the album will be released sometime in 2025.
It comes after Elton appeared to mispronounce Ed’s name at the BRIT Awards in 2018 – leaving fans confused.
While the singer is widely referred to as Ed ‘Sheer-un’, the 78-year-old introduced his pal as Ed ‘Shi-ran’, which viewers immediately mocked on X, formerly Twitter.
Elton was presenting Ed with the coveted Global Success award, after selling more than 26 million albums worldwide, when the incident took place.
Speaking via video link, the Your Song hitmaker said: ‘I couldn’t miss the opportunity to talk about one of my dear friends.
‘From the very first time I heard Ed Sheeran, I knew he’d be a huge star across the world. Last year he played by his third album Divide in London and I thought, Shape Of You, monster hit.’
However, as he continued with his tribute, fans were distracted by his pronunciation of the singer’s name as ‘Shi-ran’ – and joked about the blunder on X, formerly Twitter.
One kicked things off by writing: ‘Elton John just made @edsheeran sound like something you’d order at an Indian restaurant’
It comes after Elton appeared to mispronounce Ed’s name at the BRIT Awards in 2018 – leaving fans confused
While the singer is widely referred to as Ed ‘Sheer-un’, the 78-year-old introduced his pal as Ed ‘Shi-ran’, which viewers immediately mocked on X, formerly Twitter (both pictured last year)
While others added: ‘Elton john put ya teeth in bab, I have NEVER heard ed sheeran be pronounced like that!’ and ‘Did Elton John just make Ed Sheeran sound like a Wine Bottle?’
Further fans poked fun at the fact the mishap occurred immediately after Elton deemed Ed a ‘dear friend’.
One viewer wrote: ‘Elton john calling ed sheeran his friend and then pronouncing his name wrong is honestly the best thing that happened all night’
While another joked: ‘Living for Elton John and Ronnie Wood clearly never having heard of Ed Sheeran before tonight.
A further viewer chimed in: ‘I LIVE for the fact Elton John mispronounces Ed Sheeran EVERY time with no intention of correcting it. I wish I could give that few f***s’
While others simply laughed: ‘The way Elton John just pronounced Ed Sheeran. Lmaooo I’m dead’, ‘Elton John getting Ed Sheeran’s name wrong has made my 2018’ and ‘Elton John pronouncing Ed Sheeran has me WHEEZING.’
Listen to Capital Breakfast with Jordan, Chris and Sian weekdays from 6am – 10am across the UK and on Global Player.
