Ed Sheeran is taking a walk down memory lane.
On Tuesday, April 29, the “Thinking Out Loud” singer shared a series of throwback photos from his camera roll to celebrate his forthcoming single “Old Phone” on Instagram. Among those pictures was selfie with longtime pal Taylor Swift.
“Put the sound on and have a listen. I got rid of my phone 2015, and moved onto email full time. I just turned my phone off December ‘15 and that was it,” Sheeran, 34, began in the caption section.
The carousel of photos began with a silly photo of Sheeran with messy hair, sticking his tongue out as he holds up the “rock on” symbol with his fingers. This was followed by another solo shot, a selfie with Swift, a screenshot of a note he wrote on Nov. 4, 2015, a photo of Benny Blanco working at a computer, a selfie with his wife Cherry Seaborn and more.
Related: Ed Sheeran Gets Thrown Around a Persian Wedding in ‘Azizam’ Video Featuring Stars Googoosh, Omid Djalili and More
“When I got sued, the judge ordered me to give up my old devices to the other sides lawyers, to look through messages, emails, voice notes, videos, etc, to see if there’s was anything on there to help their case,” he continued, referencing the “Thinking Out Loud” copyright lawsuits.
When he switched on his old phone, he found a messages from his late friend Jamal Edwards (who died in 2022), from his ex-girlfriend who he “hadn’t been in contact with for years” and a family member he “hadn’t spoken to in a decade.”
“It felt like a time capsule, a time of life that I was in, and living at that time in 2015. Turning it on really spun me out, I found myself scrolling messages and conversations with people who are no longer here,” he wrote. “I found myself crying at messages to friends who are now dead, who I won’t get to speak to again. I found old photos of me with people I was so close to then, but we’ve lost touch since.”
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Ed Sheeran performs during The BRIT Awards in February 2022 in London
For Sheeran, going through these memories was “such an emotional journey” — and it inspired him to write “Old Phone” while he was finishing his album in India.
“It feels like a song that should’ve been on my debut album, but also a song I couldn’t have written until I experienced real life things happening to me. It makes me emotional to sing, I hope it finds some emotion in you too,” the “Photograph” singer wrote.
He concluded, “Maybe it makes you switch on your old phone and have a look at where you were a decade ago too. Whatever it does, I’m glad I wrote it.”
Sheeran also started a secondary Instagram account, called @teddysoldphone, with even more photos his wife Seaborn, screenshots of emails from celeb pals like Elton John and Swift artifacts from the Red era when the two toured together.
“It was pretty good jam,” Sheeran captioned a photo of a jar of jam with a label written in Swift’s handwriting that read, “Yo Ed — I’m really happy 4 you and I’m gonna let u finish but this is the best JAM OF ALL TIME – T.” (Her inscription, of course, is a play on Kanye West’s viral interruption of her MTV VMAs acceptance speech in 2009.)
Related: Ed Sheeran and Noah Kahan Singing ‘Stick Season’ in Nashville Pub Will Alter Your Brain Chemistry — Watch
“Old Phone” will follow the release of “Azizam” earlier this month. Both singles will be featured on his forthcoming album Play, which Sheeran has not set a release date for.
Play will follow 2023’s – (pronounced Subtract) and Autumn Variations.
The post follows a series of side quests by Sheeran. On April 28, he shared a video of himself spending quality time with Snoop Dogg on TikTok. In the video, Snoop rolled a blunt as “Azizam” played in the background.
Days prior, he appeared at a Nashville pub with Noah Kahan to sing “Stick Season.”
Read the original article on People
