Search icon

Music

13th Oct 2014

Ed Sheeran Reveals He Was Homeless for Two and a Half Years

"I didn’t have anywhere to live for much of 2008 and the whole of 2009 and 2010."

Her

Hit singer Ed Sheeran has revealed that he was homeless for two and a half years and slept rough outside Buckingham Palace in London before becoming famous.

Ed stated that he had been living rough in his new book, A Visual Journey.

“There was an arch outside Buckingham palace that has a heating duct and I spent a couple of nights there…I didn’t have anywhere to live for much of 2008 and the whole of 2009 and 2010, but somehow I made it work,” the Don’t singer revealed.

“I knew where I could get a bed at a certain time of night and I knew who I could call at any time to get a floor to sleep on. Being sociable helped. Drinking helped,” he revealed.

“I spent a week catching up on sleep on Circle Line trains,” he admitted. “I’d go out and play a gig, wait until 5am when the Underground opened, sleep on the Circle Line until 12, go to a session – and then repeat. It wasn’t that bad.”

He also revealed that his time sleeping rough was the inspiration behind his song Homeless:“That’s where I wrote the song Homeless and the lines, ‘It’s not a homeless night for me, I’m just home less than I’d like to be’.”

Fast forward a few years to 2012 and Ed had returned to Buckingham Palace, this time to play in front of thousands at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert.

The 23-year-old is now one of the UK’s biggest stars, with his latest album X topping charts across the world.