Ed Sheeran stands as one of the most influential and commercially dominant pop acts of the 21st century.
Whether through emotionally resonant ballads or global chart-toppers, his songwriting prowess has firmly cemented his legacy in the annals of music history.
With a haul of Grammy Awards, a stream of worldwide hits, and groundbreaking albums such as “Multiply” and “Divide”, Sheeran has built an enduring discography beloved by audiences across the globe.
The momentum behind the English singer-songwriter shows no signs of fading—his songs and albums continue to shatter records and redefine success in the pop music space, while Ed Sheeran tickets for his tours are always in huge demand.
Although Sheeran’s career has played out mainly in the public eye, he has long preferred to shield his personal life from media scrutiny.
Now, however, fans are being offered a more immersive connection to the artist through the ongoing “Mathematics Tour”, which brings the melodies of his music to life in real time.
Launched on 23 April 2022 at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, the “‘+ – ÷ = x Tour’”, popularly known as the “‘Mathematics Tour’”, supports Sheeran’s fifth and sixth albums—“‘=’” (Equals), released in 2021, and “‘-’” (Subtract), which arrived in 2023. Titled in homage to his sequence of symbol-named records (“+”, “‘–”, “‘=’”, “×”), the tour has seen enormous success, regularly selling out arenas and delivering remarkable financial returns.
As of November 2024, the tour had already amassed more than $268 million in earnings. Highlights include the 2022 Dublin concerts, which welcomed an estimated 140,487 attendees and generated $12.4 million in ticket revenue.
The 2025 European leg of Ed Sheeran’s “Mathematics Tour” got underway at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid on 30 May 2025.
During the performance, the Grammy-winning artist suffered a dramatic fall in front of a massive crowd while on stage in the Spanish capital on Friday evening.
Now 34, Ed has completely sold out both scheduled shows at the Riyadh Metropolitano, which can seat over 70,000 spectators when at full capacity.
Remaining unfazed by the incident, he swiftly regained his footing and seamlessly resumed playing his guitar, brushing off the slip with a laugh.
As fans recording the moment chuckled along, Ed gave a wry shake of his head before launching into “Castle on the Hill”, his hit track from the 2017 “Divide” album.
Later, the Halifax-born musician shared a clip on Instagram capturing the emotional aftermath of the historic night, standing before the cheering crowd and appearing deeply moved.
The British singer also recently performed at Orange Vélodrome in Marseille and is now preparing for the Italian leg of the tour, with a show scheduled for 14 June at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
His upcoming shows include stops in Lille, Hamburg, Oslo, Zurich, Antwerp, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, with the final concert scheduled for 5 September 2025 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany.
As Ed prepares to take the stage in these cities, we spotlight five of his biggest tracks that are likely contenders for the tour’s setlist.
1: “Galway Girl”
First released on 17 March 2017, “Galway Girl” remains one of the standout tracks on Ed Sheeran’s third studio album, “Divide”. Born from a collaboration with Irish folk band Beoga, the track blends Sheeran’s signature pop sound with traditional Irish musical elements. It draws stylistic inspiration from Beoga’s 2011 album “How to Tune a Fish”, creating a distinctive and upbeat sonic mix.
Among the most heavily streamed songs from the “Divide” album, “Galway Girl” has recorded over 1.5 billion streams on Spotify, making it the third most played track from the record.
On various year-end charts, “Galway Girl” appeared among the most listened-to singles in 17 regions—achieving a top-five placement in the UK, Denmark, Belgium, and Slovenia; earning a top-10 finish in Sweden, Australia, Germany, Austria, and New Zealand; and ranking inside the top 20 in Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, and Poland.
With Platinum or multi-platinum awards in 13 different markets, the song’s global popularity is beyond dispute.
2: “Thinking Out Loud”
Included on Ed Sheeran’s second studio album “X” (Multiply), which was released in 2014, “Thinking Out Loud” rapidly became one of the standout songs of his career. The track garnered widespread praise, ultimately earning two significant awards at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards—Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year.
In the United Kingdom, the single spent 19 continuous weeks inside the top 40 before rising to the number one spot in early November 2014—securing Sheeran his second chart-topper in the UK.
In the United States, “Thinking Out Loud” led the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart for the week ending 21 February 2015, marking his first number one on that specific chart. By 21 March 2015, it had simultaneously climbed to the top of the Billboard Pop Songs, Adult Pop Songs, and Adult Contemporary rankings—making it just the fourth track in history to dominate all three adult-format charts at once.
Google Play highlighted its overwhelming success by naming it the platform’s top-selling song as part of its fifth-anniversary celebration.
3: “Castle on the Hill”
Unveiled on 6 January 2017, “Castle on the Hill” was released as one of the two lead singles—alongside “‘Shape of You”—from Ed Sheeran’s third studio album “÷” (Divide).
The track, co-developed with Benny Blanco, draws creative influence from Framlingham Castle—situated in Sheeran’s hometown of Framlingham, Suffolk—and reflects on personal memories from his formative years in that locale.
The single made a striking entrance on the UK Singles Chart, debuting at number two on 13 January after shifting 193,000 combined units in its initial week. Only “Shape of You”, which landed at the summit, prevented it from reaching number one—making Sheeran the first artist in UK chart history to have debut entries in both of the top two spots at the same time.
In its second week, it retained the number two position with an additional 100,000 units sold and remained in that spot for three more weeks, ultimately charting within the UK top 10 for a total of 14 weeks.
4: “Shape of You”
Ed Sheeran’s worldwide smash “Shape of You”, first released in 2017, has officially attained Diamond status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—an honour granted to singles that exceed 10 million combined units from sales and streaming equivalents.
This distinction marks Sheeran’s second Diamond award, having previously reached the same status with “Thinking Out Loud” back in 2017. With this accomplishment, he enters a select category of performers—becoming only the fourth individual to see multiple songs certified Diamond since the RIAA first introduced the milestone twenty years ago.
The single also broke numerous chart records—most notably on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent 12 weeks at number one and remained inside the top 10 for 33 consecutive weeks—a figure unmatched by any track before its release.
5: “Perfect”
Ed Sheeran’s talent for writing emotionally resonant contemporary love ballads is beautifully showcased in “Perfect”—a romantic number inspired by his bond with Cherry Seaborn.
This childhood acquaintance would eventually become his spouse. The inspiration behind the track came during a trip to Ibiza, where Sheeran and James Blunt were listening to Future’s “March Madness” at sunrise—specifically at 6 a.m.
The lyric “Barefoot on the grass, dancing to our favourite song” was born from that very moment. Sheeran secured a recording slot that same day, expanded on the concept, and completed what would go on to be regarded as one of his most cherished compositions.
Adding to the song’s emotional gravity was the input of Sheeran’s sibling, Matthew, who was responsible for arranging the orchestral strings. Co-produced by Ed and Will Hicks, “Perfect” marked the siblings’ first musical partnership—motivated by the wish of their late grandmother, who had long desired to see both brothers unite artistically.
A duet rendition with Beyoncé arrived on 1 December 2017, lifting the single to number one in the UK with 89,359 total sales—including 45,460 derived from streams—making it the second chart-topping single from “÷” and Sheeran’s fourth overall UK number one.
In March 2017, Sheeran set a new UK chart milestone, breaking a record previously held by Frankie Laine since 1953. He became the inaugural performer to claim all top five spots on the UK Singles Chart, with nine entries occupying places in the top ten.
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