February 17: Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran - "The A Team" - is 22-years-old.

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Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran was born on February 2, 1991, and raised in Framlingham, England. He learned guitar at a very young age, and began writing songs in high school. 

Ed remembers listening to Van Morrison when he was a child, and accompaning his parents to a performance by Damien Rice in Ireland when he was 11.

Ed opened for Nizlopi in Norwich in April 2008 when he was 17. Prior to that, he was one of their guitar technicians. He began recording in 2005 which led to the release of his first EP, The Orange Room EP. Sheeran also released 2 albums, a self-titled one in 2006 and Want Some? in 2007.

He moved to London in 2008 and played in very small venues, playing every day, to as little as five people. In 2008, he auditioned for the ITV series Britannia High. In 2009, he played 312 gigs and in early 2011, Sheeran released an independent extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project which led him to be signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records.

In April 2010, Sheeran suddenly moved to Los Angeles without any close contacts there. He played open mic nights all over the city. One evening, comedian/actor Jamie Foxx saw him at The Foxxhole. Foxx offered Sheeran his recording studio and the run of his Hollywood home for the rest of his stay.

Throughout 2010, Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew. Sheeran also self-released two other EPs in 2010; Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford and Songs I Wrote With Amy, which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with fellow singer songwriter Amy Wadge.

On January 8, 2011, Sheeran released his final independent EP, No. 5 Collaborations Project featuring appearances by grime artists including Wiley, JME, Devlin, Sway and Ghetts. With this EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention for reaching number 2 in the iTunes chart without any promotion or label, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week.

He achieved commercial breakthrough success from his singles "The A Team" and "Lego House.” His debut album has been certified quintuple platinum in the United Kingdom. In 2012, he won two BRIT Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Breakthrough of the Year, while "The A Team" also won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

In March 2012, Sheeran began work on his second studio album. He also co-wrote and sings duet on the song "Everything Has Changed" from Taylor Swift's fourth album Red, which was released in October 2012. Sheeran also contributed two songs to One Direction's second studio album, Take Me Home, released in November 2012; "Over Again" and the album's second single "Little Things," which ultimately became the group's second number-one hit in the UK.

From March to September 2013, Sheeran is scheduled to play 58 dates at arenas and stadiums across North America as the opening act for Swift's Red Tour.

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For more about Ed, visit his Website at -

http://edsheeran.com/

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