While many musicians might object to being called a pop star, Ed Sheeran is “100 percent” on board with the label. “I love it,” he told Gayle King in a new CBS interview. “I don’t think it’s a dirty word. When I grew up, Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears were the stuff that I listened to regularly … And I feel like people lie when they say they don’t like [pop music].”

But when it comes to his own latest release, Autumn Variations, Ed isn’t concerned about whether the album gets the public’s seal of approval. “You just have to be like, ‘I don’t care what people think,’” he said of resisting music industry pressure to put out No. 1 song after No. 1 song. “You have to have moments of … just doing things because you want to do them.”

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Ed sheeran fiancee cherry seaborn
 Incredibly Adorable Things Ed Sheeran Has Said About His Fianceé Cherry Seaborn

Changed Man 

For a long time, the thing Ed, 32, seemingly wanted to do most was hang out at the pub with pals. Admitting he has an “addictive personality,” the singer has said he used to “stay up and drink all night.” But Ed had a game changing moment when wife Cherry Seaborn was expecting their first child. “Two months before Lyra was born, Cherry said, ‘If my water breaks, do you really want someone else to drive me to the hospital?’ Because I was just drinking a lot,” Ed told Rolling Stone. “It clicked. I was like, ‘No, actually, I really don’t.’ And I don’t ever want to be [drunk] holding my kid. Ever.” Moderation has been key. “Having a couple of beers is one thing. But having a bottle of vodka is another …. I love red wine and I love beer,” he’s said. “I don’t know any old rockers that aren’t alcoholics or sober, and I didn’t want to be either.” 

Because songwriter Ed has been open about how he draws upon such personal experiences for inspiration, some fans worried that Autumn Variations — which contains lyrics about letting go, “a bump in the ride,” and going weeks without seeing a lover — hinted at issues in his relationship with Cherry, 31. The hitmaker, however, confirms that the couple’s bond is “unbreakable” after she survived cancer during her second pregnancy and helped him through the tragic death of his friend music producer Jamal Edwards. In fact, Ed couldn’t be happier with his family life since second daughter Jupiter joined Lyra, 3, in May 2022. “It’s kind of every cliché people say about parents …. You love both kids exactly the same but also completely differently,” he has said. “It’s great, I’m really enjoying being a father of two.”