Fresh-faced Ed Sheeran, just 24 years old, exploded onto the music scene in the U.S. just three years ago, and since then he has been nominated for six Grammy Awards and lit up Top 40 
radio with a string of successful singles. Now he will be singing for fans in the Sunshine State for the very first time, with appearances at the Amway Center in Orlando at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8; the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9, and Amalie Arena in Tampa at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 10. Singer Christina Perri, well-known for her hits such as “Jar of Hearts,” “A Thousand Years” and “Human,” will open for Ed Sheeran at every Florida concert date. Jamie Lawson will join Christina Perri for selected concerts.
ABOUT ED SHEERAN
Ed Sheeran was interested in recording music from a young age, finishing his first EP by the time he was 14. In 2010, at the age of 19, he flew from his native England to Los Angeles to network and gain more exposure. He was noticed by Jamie Foxx while performing at an open-mic night and Foxx allowed him to use his recording studio and stay at his house for the remainder of his first trip to America. He released his first independent EP in Britain in 2011, selling 7,000 copies in his first week, a large number for an unsigned artist.
In 2012, Sheeran was personally contacted by Taylor Swift, who had heard his music while she was traveling abroad. She worked with him on a song featured on her Red album called “Everything Has Changed.” He also worked with the group One Direction, writing two songs for their second album. His first album, +, began to be played on Top 40 radio stations, with his debut single, “The A Team,” reaching the top 20 on the U.S. pop charts. Throughout 2013, Sheeran opened for Taylor Swift on her Red Tour. At the end of the year, he was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards.
2014 was his biggest year yet, especially after the release of his album x (pronounced “multiply”) in June of that year. He released the single “Sing,” which won an MTV Music Video Award. Afterwards, he released the single “Thinking Out Loud” to top 40 radio, which became his breakthrough hit, reaching #2 on the pop charts in the U.S. and topping the pop charts in Britain. He embarked on the x World Tour in the autumn of 2014, which he will complete in December 2015. He played three sold-out concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium in July 2015; those gatherings were the largest concerts of his career.
Many news outlets have raved about his most recent release, x. The New York Times said, “Mr. Sheeran is a gifted singer with a tender tone and a naturalistic way with storytelling…Though he may well be the most prominent folk-minded singer in contemporary pop, he’s an open-eared experimenter at core, and saddled with none of the modesty, false or otherwise, that typically go with the folkie role.” Time also said of the artist and the album, “(Sheeran) is a polyglot…raised on folk, R&B, hip-hop and rock in equal measure and comfortable incorporating each of those genres into his compositions.”
In addition to being nominated for six Grammy Awards, Sheeran has also been named the most-streamed artist in the world by Spotify, and has been iTunes’ biggest-selling artist in the U.K. and the U.S. at various times throughout 2014 and 2015.
TICKETS
Tickets are available for purchase right now via Ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices per person start at $57.50 (Orlando), $56.50 (Miami), and $56.25 (Tampa). Central Florida fans can enter a special contest via Instagram: cut out the photo of Ed Sheeran provided by the Amway Center at amwaycenter.com/tickets-and-seating/contests-offers, take him around town with you, and snap a selfie, making sure to use the hashtags #amwaycenter and #SheeriosinOrlando. A winner will be selected at random after the contest ends on August 31 at 4 p.m., and they will win two tickets to see Ed Sheeran at the Amway Center.
To read more about Ed Sheeran, visit edsheeran.com. Follow him on social media too, at facebook.com/edsheeranmusic, twitter.com/edsheeran and instagram.com/sheeran.
