We're so glad Ed Sheeran is back in our lives. After a yearlong hiatus, the musician came roaring into 2017 with two new songs [1], tons of incredible and varied performances [2], and then another new song [3] as a cherry on top of the cake. With the rush of new music, we thought we'd hearken back to a fun, sort-of-hidden part of Sheeran's career: as the brilliant songwriter. Over the years, he's written tons of incredible songs for other artists, and we've rounded up some of our favorites.
"18" by One Direction
Sheeran wrote "18" in a hotel bathroom in Denmark. According to MTV News, he immediately knew who it was for [6]. "I was like, 'This sounds like a One Direction song,' and I emailed it to them, and they were like, 'I really like it.'"
"Cold Water (feat. Justin Bieber & MO)" by Major Lazer
The best part about this song is that Ed Sheeran doesn't remember writing it [7]. The singer told 97.1 AMP Radio that he "didn't even know that song existed." He went on, saying, "It was a song I must've half-written somewhere at a time where I was writing a lot of songs . . . I got the email from Diplo just being like, 'Yo! That "Cold Water" song is dope! Can I have it?' I was like 'I don't know what you're talking about.'" Amazing.
"Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber
Sheeran actually originally wrote this song for his new album [8]. He told 97.1 AMP Radio, "That was a song I had written for Divide. It just wouldn't have made it . . . and then Justin took it and did his thing on it, and released it as a single and made it what it is."
"Tattoo" by Hilary Duff
Not only did Sheeran drunkenly decided to write a song [9] together. "When we were at the party, we were really drunk, and he was like, 'You should come to my house tomorrow! We should write a song!'" Sheeran recalled. "And in my head, I'm like, The Weeknd doesn't wanna write a song — the Weeknd doesn't work with anyone. He's got one feature on his album, which is Kanye West [10]. He doesn't wanna do that. And then the next day, he hit me up again, so I went, and we wrote this song, which is really, really f*cking good." Bonus: the version above is sung by Sheeran himself.
"Everything Has Changed" by Taylor Swift
This one's kind of obvious but still merits mentioning! Taylor Swift [11] told MTV News that she collaborated with Sheeran on the song [12]. "Yes, I actually I wrote a song with Ed Sheeran on a trampoline in my backyard for the new album . . . we had been writing a song and I was like 'Hey, I just got a trampoline. You want to see it?' And so, he brought the guitar for some reason. We ended up writing an entire song out there."
"I Was Made For Loving You (feat. Ed Sheeran)" by Tori Kelly
Yes, another one that features Sheeran's voice, but the backstory is pretty charming [13]. Apparently, Sheeran wishes he had kept the song for himself. He told the story on Fresh 102.7 NY: "I remember writing that with Tori and saying before, 'Whatever we write, definitely for your album, don't worry about it,' and remember halfway through being like 'Agh, God I wish I was keeping this.' It is a really beautiful song and it's turned out so, so well. But that's one song that I wish I'd kept."
"Love Shine Down" by Olly Murs
While there's not necessarily a fun quote about this song, Sheeran confirmed that he wrote it [14] on his official Twitter account.
"Say You Love Me" by Jessie Ware
Jessie Ware spoke to the Daily Star about the collaboration in 2014. She also confirmed that he plays guitar on the track [15]. "I have to give him so much credit for being able to write something that's so right for me and elevates the way I sing — he really pushed me hard . . . It was such a pleasure to work with him because he is ridiculously talented. I feel lucky that I got a glimpse of him in the flesh writing a song."
"Little Things" by One Direction
From the band's second album, Take Me Home, "Little Things" wasn't originally supposed to be a One Direction song. The band told MTV News that they sort of recorded it by accident [16]. "We went in to record a different one of his and he said, 'I've written something else if you want to hear it' . . . he wrote it and then played it to us in the session when we were supposed to record something else and we said, 'All right, we want to record that now.'"