Ed Sheeran broke down while discussing his wife Cherry Seaborn’s fragile health and the sudden death of his best friend Jamal Edwards in a trailer for a new four-part series on Disney+ released today.
The British megastar, 32, sobs in the back of a car in an emotional teaser for The Sum Of It All, which will air on May 3.
Ed said recently he had ‘spiralled’ into depression after his wife was diagnosed with a tumour while pregnant last year – delaying her treatment – and his first mentor, Jamal Edwards, died of a heart attack in February 2022.
And today’s trailer shows the Suffolk-born singer-songwriter sobbing as he grapples with the death of his friend compounded by his wife Cherry’s health battle as she prepared to give birth to their second child, Jupiter, born in May 2022.
Then there is a clip of him crying on stage, with Cherry saying: ‘I’ve never seen him cry on stage’, adding: ‘He hasn’t had the time to process and be at peace with his thoughts.’
Ed then says to the camera: ‘You guys said, “Do you want to make a documentary?” and I said, “Yeah, it’ll be me in the studio and we’ll play a gig”. But he added that after the trauma of the past year: ‘That’s not what the documentary is’.
The four-part series, out in six weeks, will chart Sheeran’s path to stardom.
The trailer – which fans have said left them emotional – starts with Ed talking about his childhood, growing up with a stutter, and saying: ‘That guy doesn’t grow up to be a pop star. It’s so unlikely’.
Childhood videos of Ed are interspersed with clips of him on stage during his sellout arena tours.
Viewers will see him going from the beginning of his career to becoming one of music’s biggest stars.
Ed describes meeting his best friend Jamal, who gave him his first big break, and their friendship before his sudden death last year.
Jamal, a music producer and the son of Loose Women star Brenda Edwards, tragically died after a cardiac arrest brought on by cocaine and alcohol in February 2022 at the age of 31.
Ed’s wife Cherry is also seen in the docuseries, with clips of her pregnant with the couple’s two children Lyra, two, and Jupiter, 10 months.
The pair are seen going on dates together, with Ed saying: ‘Everything in my life sort of got so much better when Cherry came into it.’
However, the series also delves into Cherry’s health issues and the toll it took on the couple.
Recently, Ed revealed that the couple were plagued with ‘fear, depression and anxiety’ because Cherry was diagnosed with a tumour that she couldn’t have treated until after she’d given birth to their second child.
The trailer ends with happier videos of Ed celebrating his birthday, playing on stage and laughing with his friends as he says ‘life can be unpredictable’.
It comes after Ed revealed that the first single off his new album Subtract is dedicated to his late friend Jamal.
Eyes Closed will be released on March 24, the first single off Ed’s new album Subtract.
Ed recently announced the release of his sixth studio album, explaining it had been inspired by personal tragedies he has faced.
Posting on Instagram to his 42million followers on Wednesday, the Shape Of You singer revealed the loss of his close friend had inspired the track and that he is ‘dancing with my eyes closed to try get through it’.
He penned alongside the post: ‘Eyes Closed is out 24th march, you can pre order it now.
‘This song is about losing someone, feeling like every time you go out and you expect to just bump into them, and every thing just reminds you of them and things you did together.
‘You sort of have to take yourself out of reality sometimes to numb the pain of loss, but certain things just bring you right back into it.
‘Blue was Jamal’s colour, but now is all I feel. And I guess music helps heal, so I’m dancing with my eyes closed to try get through it x’
Alongside the images, the singer posted two black-and-white photographs, where he appeared deep in thought as he reflected on the emotional toll of the past couple of years.
Subtract is set to be released on May 5 with Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. It is thought it will be similar to the hitmaker’s earlier works with an acoustic feel.
It comes after Ed opened up on facing suicidal thoughts after the death of his best friend Jamal.
Ed detailed feeling like he was ‘drowning’, when another close friend, Australian cricketer Shane Warne passed away the following month.
In a raw interview with Rolling Stone, he explained that he felt shame around his suicidal thoughts as they seemed ‘selfish’.
Opening up on his depression, he said: ‘My best friend died. And he shouldn’t have done.
‘I’ve always had real lows in my life. But it wasn’t really till last year that I actually addressed it.
‘I felt like I didn’t want to live anymore. And I have had that throughout my life.… You’re under the waves drowning. You’re just sort of in this thing. And you can’t get out of it.’
He added that the depression seemed “selfish, especially as a father. I feel really embarrassed about it.’
With the aid of his wife Cherry Seaborn who told him to seek help, Ed started seeing a therapist.
He explained: ‘No one really talks about their feelings where I come from,” he says. ‘People think it’s weird getting a therapist in England…. I think it’s very helpful to be able to speak with someone and just vent and not feel guilty about venting.’
He continued: ‘The help isn’t a button that is pressed, where you’re automatically OK. It is something that will always be there and just has to be managed.’
Elsewhere in the candid chat, Ed spoke about his drinking and drug use and how he ended up quitting both.
He explained: ‘I was always a drinker. I didn’t touch any sort of like, drug, until I was 24.
He admitted to using a ‘few’ substances but refused to name them for fear his kids would one day read it.
Ed said: ‘I remember just being at a festival and being like, “Well, if all of my friends do it, it can’t be that bad.”
‘And then sort of dabbling. And then it just turns into a habit that you do once a week and then once a day and then, like, twice a day and then, like, without booze. It just became bad vibes.’
Speaking about how he quit hard alcohol, he explained that once again it was wife Cherry that put things into focus.
He recalled: ‘Two months before Lyra was born, Cherry said, “If my waters break, do you really want someone else to drive me to the hospital?”
‘Because I was just drinking a lot. And that’s when it clicked. I was like, “No, actually, I really don’t.” And I don’t ever want to be p***ed holding my kid. Ever, ever.
‘Having a couple of beers is one thing. But having a bottle of vodka is another thing. It’s just a realization of, “I’m getting into my thirties. Grow up! You’ve partied, you’ve had this experience. Be happy with that and just be done.”
‘I love red wine, and I love beer. I don’t know any old rockers that aren’t alcoholics or sober, and I didn’t want to be either.’
The death of Jamal from a combination of cocaine and booze, has cemented Ed’s feelings about drugs.
He insisted: ‘I would never, ever, ever touch anything again, because that’s how Jamal died. And that’s just disrespectful to his memory to even, like, go near.’
