Ed Sheeran's episode of Desert Island Discs aired the other day on BBC Radio 4, and the interview proved quite revealing in terms of unearthing the singer's thoughts on fame.
Sheeran admitted that he got caught up in fame after his second album 'x' exploded worldwide, particularly struggling around the time he played three nights at Wembley Stadium.
He told host Kirsty Young: "I don't think I did deal very well with it. I think it's a really weird thing. Playing a venue like Wembley Stadium with 87,000 people and walking off to sit in a dressing room afterwards with nothing but an air conditioning sound, you don't really know how to come down from there.
"At Wembley I had my friends and family there, but on tour, I don't know – I will admit I did lose myself for a bit. You can't really not go mental in that setting."
He added that he has employed several old friends and family members to keep him on the straight and narrow. "I have about 12 really close school mates that have been in the same group since we were about 11 and that has been a constant thread of sanity, so now I employ four of them, and they work on my tour. It was my cousin, actually, who worked on the tour, and basically he said he was leaving if it didn't calm down [partying]. He's another one who's a constant throughout all of that.
"I really want to stress the point, me employing people that are my friends and my family is not me putting people on the payroll so they can be 'yes men' – it's completely the opposite. They're really not scared for their jobs, basically – they will say how it is."
Sheeran's song choices on the show - which he said were the songs that made him 'want to play music' - were:
Layla - Derek and the Dominos
Carrickfergus - Van Morrison & the Chieftains
Stan - Eminem
Volcano - Damien Rice
Flooded Quarry - Nizlopi
They Won’t Go When I Go - Stevie Wonder
Indian Sunset - Elton John
Two Shades of Hope - Foy Vance
Listen to Sheeran's DID here now.
