Ed Sheeran supported by wife Cherry amid 'humiliating' court battle - 'she's his rock'

The ongoing song theft dispute in London’s high court over Ed Sheeran’s hit ‘Shape Of You’ got to the musicologist stage this week. Both sides in the dispute had expert musicologists analyse the similarities between Sheeran’s song and Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue’s earlier track ‘Oh Why’.

Ed Sheeran‘s ‘Shape Of You’ is “coincidentally similar” and bears “distinctive differences” to the song the singer is accused of copying.It’s alleged that Sheeran and two of his co-writers, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, lifted  “particular lines and phrases” for the 2017 ‘÷’ single from a track called ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Switch (real name Sam Chokri).The latter artist and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue claim that Sheeran took the “oh I, oh I, oh I, oh I” hook from the aforementioned song, which was released in 2015.

Ed Sheeran revealed he was told about his longtime friend Shane Warne’s death by paparazzi who flagged him down in the street. The Bad Habits singer, 31, had been leaving court where he is fighting to prove he did not copy the song Oh Why by Sami Chokri and his co-author Ross O’Donoghue, when he was questioned about Warne’s death by a paparazzo. Sheeran told Hit Network’s Carrie & Tommy that that was the moment he found out the cricket legend had died suddenly at the age of 52.He explained: ‘It’s been a weird month, I lost my best friend Jamal [Edwards] at the end of February and then I know I can’t talk about it but I started this thing that’s been heavily publicised that I’m going in [to court for] every day. ‘I came out of court on the first day to a paparazzi saying, “Hey, what do you think of your friend Shane dying?”‘It’s just a very, very weird time. I feel I haven’t quite been able to process or grieve anything… It’s really, really sad.’Sheeran added: ‘I love Shane and I have an amazing last memory of me and him at a Coldplay gig together and I’m grateful for all the memories I do have and I’m sad about all the memories I won’t make any more.’Explaining how he met Warne, Sheeran previously told The Project: ‘We met in 2014, when I was doing the Logies.

Ed Sheeran has teased his next “curveball” project, confirming that it’s coming very soon.Speaking to The Project NZ about his upcoming Australia and New Zealand stadium tour, the singer-songwriter explained the reasoning behind naming his albums after mathematical symbols.“I was like, ‘I don’t really want to be a poster boy’,” Sheeran said. “So I had sort of figured out a way [to do] it with colours and symbols.

Ed Sheeran gave another emotional tribute to late friend and cricket legend Shane Warne as he appeared on Australian TV show The Project on Wednesday 16 March. Shane tragically died on 4 March aged 52 after suffering a fatal a heart attack while on a trip in Koh Samui, Thailand, fans were devastated to learn along with his family and friends.

Ed Sheeran was hit with a “concerted plan” to secure his interest in a songwriter who then accused him of copying one of his songs for ‘Shape Of You’, the High Court was told yesterday (March 15).Sheeran and two of his co-writers, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, have been accused of lifting “particular lines and phrases” for the 2017 ‘÷’ single from a track called ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Switch (real name Sam Chokri).The latter artist and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue have alleged that Sheeran took the “oh I, oh I, oh I, oh I” hook from the aforementioned song, which was released back in 2015.

Related: From Ed Sheeran to Katy Perry, plagiarism claims are an occupational hazard for musicians In written evidence, David May, managing director of Artists and Company (A&C), a firm that used to manage Chokri, said that when Oh Why was being promoted the outfit had “a concerted plan to target Ed Sheeran in the hope of engaging his interest in Sami’s work … We did not target any other artist in the same way. ”He added: “We felt that, if Ed Sheeran could see Sami’s work, he would recognise his talent.

Ed Sheeran has announced the Australia and New Zealand leg of his ‘+ – = ÷ x Tour’ – find tickets here.The singer-songwriter will embark on the run of dates in February 2023 in support of his most recent studio album, ‘=’, which came out last October. It’ll mark his first trip Down Under since the record-breaking ‘÷’ tour in 2018.Sheeran will kick off the stadium stint in Wellington, NZ on February 2 before making stop-offs in Auckland (February 10), Brisbane (17), Sydney (24), Melbourne (March 2), Adelaide (7) and Perth (12).Tickets go on general sale next Wednesday (March 23), with a pre-sale due to go live on Monday (March 21).

The artist who accuses Ed Sheeran of ripping off his track ‘Oh Why’ when writing ‘Shape Of You’ took to the witness stand yesterday as the big song-theft legal battle in the London high court continues.Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue argue that Sheeran likely got hold of a copy of their song ‘Oh Why’ from friends they have in common, and then consciously or subconsciously lifted elements of that track when writing ‘Shape Of You’. But Sheeran and his co-writers on the 2017 hit deny ever having heard ‘Oh Why’ before their songwriting sessions in late 2016, and argue that the elements shared by the two songs are commonplace in pop music.In a written statement and during his testimony in court yesterday, Chokri talked about how he actively tried to get a copy of his 2015 song to Sheeran.He said he was inspired by Sheeran’s success and recognised that if he could get an endorsement from the star that would be “a significant boost”.

Radio 1 has announced the line-up for this year’s Big Weekend festival, which will take place in Coventry in May. Headlining the first physical edition of the event since 2019 – thanks to the pandemic – will be Mr Ed Sheeran himself.“I can’t wait to kick off festival season and perform in front of a live audience at Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2022 in Coventry”, says Sheeran, covering all the facts as efficiently as possible.If you’re wondering what a less efficient version of that statement would look like, here’s Head Of Radio 1 Aled Haydn Jones: “We are kicking off the UK’s festival season in true Radio 1 style with an incredible line-up of acts already on the bill, and more exciting names to be revealed this week.

Ed Sheeran’s track ‘Shape Of You’ has told London’s High Court he felt “belittled” by the superstar’s lawyers.Chokri, who performs as Sami Switch, was in court today (March 14) as part of the ongoing copyright court case regarding his song ‘Oh Why’ and Sheeran’s 2017 single.“I feel like I’ve been robbed by someone I respect, or respected,” he told the court, according to the BBC.“This is years of a cloud over my head,” Chokri went on to say. “All I heard and read was emails belittling me and my questions.”Sami Switch continued: “All I wanted to do was ask for an explanation.

Ed Sheeran, Calvin Harris, Aitch, AJ Tracey, Anne Marie, Central Cee, Joel Corry and Yungblud are all set to perform on the main stage on Saturday, May 28 in Coventry.The BBC Music Introducing Stage will welcome Artemas, Celina Sharma, Deyah, Jordan MacKampa, Tamera, Thomas Headon, USNA and Willow Kayne on Saturday and Alfie Indra, Crawlers, Danniella Dee, Hope Tala, Lizzie Esau, Piri & Tommy, Queen Millz and Sad Night Dynamite on Sunday (May 29).It was announced last November last year that Radio 1’s Big Weekend would return in 2022 from May 27-29 after a two-year break. The annual event was held virtually in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-enforced restrictions.The 2019 edition of Big Weekend took place in Middlesbrough, with performances coming from Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, The 1975, Foals, Vampire Weekend and more.Some #BigWeekend line-up news! Performing on the Main Stage on Saturday 28th May:✨ @CalvinHarris✨ @EdSheeran✨ @OfficialAitch✨ @ajtracey✨ @AnneMarie✨ Central Cee✨ @JoelCorry✨ @Yungblud Everything you need to know about this year’s event: https://t.co/GNEZRXbbVS pic.twitter.com/uswiaDjRkJ— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) March 14, 2022Both Ed Sheeran and Anne Marie have told Radio 1 they “can’t wait” to perform at the festival (via BBC), with Sheeran adding: “See you all there!”More names will be revealed in due course, along with the main stage acts for the Sunday edition.There are 8,000 tickets available to purchase for Friday and 39,500 tickets available to purchase, per day for Saturday and Sunday.

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Ed Sheeran’s trip to the High Court in London in a bid to defeat a song-theft lawsuit filed against him and his musical collaborators in relation to his 2017 track ‘Shape Of You’, and the return of LimeWire – not as a piece of peer-to-peer file-sharing software, but as a music NFT marketplace.

As the cheeky chappie who brightens up our mornings on Capital Breakfast, you would expect Roman Kemp to be brimming with confidence. But when we chat after our exclusive photoshoot, he surprises us with a confession. “Any time I do a shoot, I have to make sure I don’t see one of the pictures.That’s the only diva side of me,” he says.

Another co-writer of the Ed Sheeran hit ‘Shape Of You’ took to the witness stand in the high court in London yesterday as the song-theft case against Sheeran and his musical collaborators continues. Producer Steve Mac – real name Steven McCutcheon – said the writing of ‘Shape Of You’ was very rapid and very collaborative.Sheeran and his songwriting collaborators – including McCutcheon – are accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue when they wrote their 2017 hit.

ED Sheeran created his No1 hit Shape of You at an extraordinary pace, his co-writer told the High Court yesterday. The singer was said to be a “whirlwind of ideas” when Steve McCutcheon met him for the first time to help on the 2017 single.

Courteney Cox, Ed Sheeran, Elton John and Brandi Carlile delighted fans last year when they teamed up for a surprise cover.

TikTok star Sam Ryder has been announced as the UK’s entry for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.

Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid took to the stand in London’s high court yesterday in the ongoing song-theft legal battle over Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’, which he co-wrote. He mainly echoed comments already made by his musical collaborator earlier in the week, while also talking about the “culture” of dubious copyright claims in the US courts that followed the 2015 ‘Blurred Lines’ ruling, and insisting that the thought of plagiarising another artist’s work was “abhorrent”.Sheeran and his songwriting collaborators – including McDaid – are accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue when they wrote their 2017 hit.

Ed Sheeran‘s co-writer Johnny McDaid has described the idea of plagiarism as “abhorrent” during the ongoing copyright court case regarding ‘Shape Of You’.Sheeran, McDaid and co-writer Steve Mac have been accused of lifting “particular lines and phrases” for the 2017 ‘÷’ single from a track called ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Switch.The latter artist and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue have alleged that Sheeran took the “oh I, oh I, oh I, oh I” hook from the aforementioned song, which was released back in 2015. Sheeran has denied the claim and rejected the suggestion that he heard ‘Oh Why’ before he wrote ‘Shape Of You’ in October 2016.As BBC News reports, Snow Patrol‘s McDaid claimed in written evidence that he could not recall ever hearing ‘Oh Why’ “in any way” and said he was unaware of Sami Switch before the current legal case began.“I have been a professional songwriter for many years and have achieved substantial success,” he wrote.“I do not need or want to, nor would I ever, plagiarise other people’s work.

Ed Sheeran was left looking confused in court after a brand new song was played by mistake during his “Shape of You” trial. The singer-songwriter was “disconcerted” after an error resulted in the never-before-heard track being heard by those present in the High Court on Tuesday (8 March). Sheeran, looking at his lawyers, said: “That’s a song I wrote last January.