Ed Sheeran explains why he hasn’t had a phone since 2015
Ed Sheeran talked about why he doesn’t use modern communication tools. The singer of “Shape of You” was on a podcast called Therapuss with Jake Shane. He told the host they couldn’t swap phone numbers because he doesn’t have a cell phone.
“I don’t have a number, but you can email me,” the Grammy winner said.
But he did say his team gives him a phone for events to post on social media.
He said, “I use it to take videos for social media. But it’s not a normal phone I use every day.”
He stopped using his phone in December 2015 because he had too many contacts and was always getting texts.
“I had the same number since I was 15,” he said. “I got famous, and suddenly I had 10,000 contacts. People were always texting me. It was too much.”
“With phones, people expect you to reply right away. If you don’t, they think you’re being rude. Sometimes you’re busy and can’t reply, but then you’re stuck in lots of conversations.”
So, he got rid of his phone and only uses an iPad. Now, he mainly uses email and only checks it once a week.
“I check my emails on Thursdays or Fridays, usually in the car,” he said. “I reply to everyone then and catch up. It’s a good way to limit how much time you spend on it.”
“I went out to dinner after a basketball game, and I left my iPad in my hotel room. I had dinner with my friend without any distractions.” He also likes that people don’t expect an instant reply with email, so there’s no pressure.
Not having a phone lets him be bored, which he says helps him come up with song ideas. “When you’re not always busy, that’s when I come up with lyrics or melodies,” he said. “Being bored is when you get creative. It’s hard to think of ideas when you’re always connected.”