Ed Sheeran will be following Bruce Springsteen, Kylie Minogue and other superstars into the castaway hot seat when he joins ‘Desert Island Discs’ as Kirsty Young’s guest, when the series returns to BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 7 May.
‘Desert Island Discs’, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in January this year, has featured a wide array of musical guests since it first aired in 1942 – musicians who have been castaway in recent years include Bruce Springsteen, Michael Bublé, Stephen Hough, Joyce DiDonato, Kyle Minogue, Keith Richards, Noel Gallagher and Marin Alsop.
David Beckham recently appeared on the programme, whose simple format has remained unchanged for more than seven decades - a guest is invited to choose eight discs, a book and a luxury to take with them as they’re castaway on a mythical desert island. They’re given the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible. During the interview they explain their choices and discuss key moments in their lives, people and events that have influenced and inspired them and brought them to where they are today.
Ed’s appearance will crown a history-making couple of months. His recent third album, ÷ (”divide”), was released in March, and debuted at number one in the UK, the US and other major markets. The first two singles from the album, ‘Shape of You’ and ‘Castle on the Hill’ were released in January 2017 and broke records in a number of countries, including the UK, Australia and Germany, by debuting in the top two positions of the charts. He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week. Ed appeared on Debrett’s 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK
Ed Sheeran’s interview will be broadcast on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs on Sunday 7 May at 11.15am.