Ed Sheeran has admitted he’s had to have words with his friend and collaborator Sir Elton John about how to correctly pronounce his name.
Way back in 2018, Sir Elton raised eyebrows when he introduced Ed at the Brit Awards, only to pronounce his surname as “Shee-ran”, rather than the way most of us would say it.
At the time, some pondered whether the misnomer might have been a private joke between the two musicians, but Ed has now confirmed that not only was the Tiny Dancer singer making a mistake, it’s something he still fails to get right seven years later.
On Friday morning, Ed appeared on Capital Breakfast, where the hosts played a clip from Sir Elton recorded earlier this week, in which he once again pronounced Ed’s name wrong.
“I’ve actually had the awkward conversation with him being like ‘I’ve known you for 15 years, it’s not ‘shee-ran’,” he admitted. “But it’s just one of those things. I actually have had that conversation.”
When host Chris Stark commented that you “can’t argue with him”, Ed responded: “Well I can! I can and I do.”
“It’s kind of like when your nan just says something, and you know she said it wrong and you just have to go with it haven’t you,” Jordan North then offered.
Ed concluded: “It’s just his way. It’s like how my parents always call me Edward. I’m not Ed to them, always Edward. And I’ll always be ‘Ed Shee-ran’ to Elton.”
Sir Elton has been a champion of Ed’s music since the early days of his career, with the pair even collaborating on the number one festive hit Merry Christmas (as well as its charity single reimagining, Sausage Rolls For Everyone).
Listen to Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby every weekday from 6am.