Ed Sheeran is going country! The British singer will make his ACM Awards debut for a special performance at the ceremony on Thursday, May 11, at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
The 'Shape of You' hitmaker revealed the news on Tuesday in a video message shared on the ACM Awards Instagram page, he said: "Who said the Brits don't have a little bit of country in them? I'm really excited to be at the Academy of Country Music Awards this week. This is the first time that I'll be performing on it, and I am super pumped about it and I hope to see you there."
No further details about his performance were given, but it will no doubt be a show-stopping event. Ed is the latest name to be added to an already star-studded line-up of performers including Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Dolly Parton, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Morgan Wallen, The War And Treaty, Lainey Wilson, and Bailey Zimmerman.
The two-hour show will be hosted by country music icons Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks and will be free to stream live for a global audience across 240+ countries and territories exclusively on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch.
Fans were thrilled to see Ed's name added to the line-up, with one responding on Instagram: "I'm so excited for them and have the best time of your life performing for the first time at the @acmawards." A second said: "Can't wait for this!" A third added: "So glad you are coming. After what you have been through you deserve some fun time."
The news comes after a federal jury ruled in Ed's favor in his copyright trial for the 2017 song 'Thinking Out Loud.' The decision stated that the singer did not copy elements of Marvin Gaye's song 'Let's Get It On,' with the case having been launched against the singer by the heirs of Gaye's co-writer on the track, Ed Townsend.
"I feel like the truth was heard and the truth was believed," the singer told People following the decision. "It's nice that we can both move on with our lives now – it's sad that it had to come to this."
The case was originally filed in 2017 but has seen several delays since then and finally went to trial earlier in 2023. The amount being sought in damages was unspecified, although insider reports suggest it could have been a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
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