Ed Sheeran reveals wife Cherry Seaborn had tumor during pregnancy as he announces new album Subtract

The new album is inspired by the life-changing events the singer experienced within a matter of months.

March 2, 2023 - 4:30 PM IST

Ed Sheeran, the multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter, is back with the latest installment of his mathematical albums titled - (pronounced Subtract), set to drop on May 5. The new album is inspired by the life-changing events the singer experienced in a matter of months.

Ed Sheeran reveals wife Cherry Seaborn had tumor during pregnancy as he announces new album Subtract

While unveiling the title and release date for the album, the 32-year-old pop star also revealed that, his wife, Cherry Seaborn, was diagnosed with a tumor when she was pregnant with their second daughter last year. Having initially met during their upbringing in Sheffield, the couple later reunited in 2015 and tied the knot in 2018. Following the birth of their daughter Lyra in 2020, the couple welcomed their second child in May of the following year.

Speaking about the new album, he shared across his social media, “I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art."

Sheeran also revealed, “Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out.” He went on to reveal that he’d scrapped a decade’s worth of work on -, which follows 2011’s +, 2014’s x, 2017’s ÷ and 2021’s =, and replaced it with a track list of songs. “And in just over a week I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.”

“Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly, and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety,” added the singer referring a plagiarism lawsuit involving his song ‘Shape of You.’ “I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.”

Sheeran further wrote in the vulnerable album announcement that "For the first time, I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life. This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”