Ed Sheeran Inspires Patients in Seacrest Studios at Children's Hospital Colorado

Written by former Seacrest Studios intern, Heavenly Torres

This summer, Seacrest Studios at Children’s Hospital Colorado had a return visit from close friend, Ed Sheeran, during his 2023 Mathematics Tour! He performed at Empower Field at Mile High on August 19th and visited patients at the hospital hours before hitting the stage of his sold-out, record-setting show in front of 85,000 people. 

TJ, a big fan, asked him how he picks the titles of his albums. Ed reminisced and said that it started when he was 17 - he’d written many songs before he signed with a record label. Once he signed a record contract, he released his first album “+” (Plus) which was an addition to the EP’s he had released prior. His second album “x” (Multiply) was meant to multiply everything and be bigger than his album before. Ed’s third album “÷” (Divide) was a double album where “-” (Subtract) was making the album acoustic. Finally, “=” (Equal) was the sum of everything.  He stated he loves working in series, so his Mathematics albums were a five-album plan. Ed also shared he plans to release another five-album series over the next few years!

In the studio, Zaedyn asked where the coolest place in the world would be to have a treasure hunt with friends. Ed was struck by Zaedyn’s question saying, “Whoa! That is a great question!” He suggested somewhere unexplored, like Antarctica. He reckoned “there are mad dinosaurs in Antarctica!”

After answering a few more questions, Ed surprised the audience with two acoustic performances. He sang his favorite song he's written, “Perfect” and “Bad Habits.” Everyone was thrilled to hear Ed perform two major hits.

In between the performances, the studio team hosted their iconic Backwards Forwards game. This game sparked a story that Ed shared with the studio about the idea his team had for the “Shape of You” music video which involved Ed singing backwards. Ed told us that a director wanted him to learn the song backwards then skydive out of an airplane with a GoPro attached to his head. Once Ed landed, they would then reverse the footage to have the video go backwards to make it look like Ed was singing forward while skydiving back up into the airplane! Ed mentioned that he had a month of speech lessons to learn his song backwards but ultimately canceled the idea two days before the video shoot because he realized he’s afraid of heights. The audience was engulfed in laughter while Ed finished his story of how the music video went from that to a sumo wrestling match instead.

After Ed’s fun story, we had him say “Mathematics Tour” for Backwards Forwards. Ed was adamant that he would not do a good job, but he accomplished the challenge! He even surprised himself how good it sounded.

Ed ended his interview with some inspiring words for patients, “Don’t let anyone ever say what you can't do because it is more of a reflection of their insecurities than yours. If someone says you can’t do something, it’s usually because they feel like they can't do it. The key to anything is just belief, determination, and hard work. Choose something you love and make it work.”

From Seacrest Studios at Children's Hospital Colorado, thank you Ed for visiting patients again!