At this point, it isn’t even shocking to hear that more artists want to transition to the country music scene. We’ve seen countless artists like Post Malone, Beyonce, mgk, and many more attempt to make the move. Most have been epic fails, but others have been quite good and showed a deep respect for country music.
Ed Sheeran is the latest culprit to announce that he will eventually be doing a country music crossover project. This shouldn’t be a shock, as he was seen playing at Nashville bars and the iconic Bluebird Cafe just a few weeks ago. Shocking or not, many fans are unhappy to hear that the pop legend will put out country music. Their frustration is understandable, but ultimately, it may be unwarranted because if this makes sense for anyone, it’s Ed Sheeran. He won’t make the transition like others have. This will be a well-thought-out, respectful process.
He explained his plan on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy, stating, “I’m going to move to Nashville and transition to country. But I think you have to do it properly. It’s a genre you have to respect.” Sheeran is somebody who would never intentionally disrespect music. He has a deep-rooted knowledge of music, but recognizing that is huge.
Respecting the genre – especially country music – should come with common sense. But without naming names… cough cough, Beyonce… That hasn’t been the case with everyone. Some artists came into country music and believed they were saving a genre that didn’t need to be saved, quickly turning its fans against them. That mindset and underwhelming music were enough for fans to want to push away outsiders. Other artists like Post Malone have shown great respect for country music. He respected its current artists and the ones before him and put out a record that actually sounded like country music. He didn’t try to redefine it in any way, shape, or form. As a result, fans welcomed him with open arms.
Since he made it clear from minute one, country fans should be more open-minded. He’s not going to come in and act like he owns it. It seems like it will be a well-thought-out project that he will be patient with to ensure it properly belongs in country music.
As long as he doesn’t try to do too much, this could be a great fit. Obviously, he doesn’t fit the honky tonk Texas sound. Less can definitely be more when it comes to a country album. No need for an exaggerated twang or to be something he’s not. But he could fit right in with a soft acoustic sound with a nice fiddle and steel guitar to accent. That’s right up his alley and could be teamed up with some honest songwriting which would be the cherry on top.
This also shouldn’t be as shocking as it seems, as Ed Sheeran has collaborated with Luke Combs twice. Just under two years ago, Sheeran performed his song “Life Goes On” at the 2023 ACM Awards, where Luke Combs appeared surprised. They immediately released the duet after the show ended. “Life Goes On” is an acoustic-based song and honestly could get away with being classified as a country song relatively easily. They also teamed up for a live performance of “Dive,” where Luke Combs later put out a fantastic song cover. If we’re lucky, we will see another Luke Combs and Ed Sheeran collab.
He already has a solid relationship with the industry and its important members. That is a key step when transitioning, so he can fully immerse himself in the culture. He wouldn’t be going into this blindly; this has been years in the making.
Ed Sheeran is not just one of the most talented music artists working today, but when you zoom out, you see his incredible versatility. He has two of the top 11 most-streamed songs on Spotify. “Shape Of You” is currently the second most-streamed song, with a whopping 4.3 billion streams. “Perfect” came in at number 11, with 3.3 billion streams. What’s amazing is that those two songs sound nothing like each other and are on the same album. Honestly, at its base, “Perfect” has some fundamentals of a country song, and with a couple of minor tweaks, it could become an unquestionable country song. The acoustic base alongside the violin has a solid country base. There could easily be a country version if you substitute the violin with a fiddle. On top of those songs, he has shown great versatility through other songs, from his debut single “A Team,” a soft, acoustic-based song, to “Don’t,” which has a completely different vibe.
This isn’t to say that Ed Sheeran is a country artist now. He’s very far from it. It’s merely pointing out that some of his biggest hits carry similar values to country music. Not only that, but it proves that he is more than capable of making a country song. He has shown extremely high levels of success with very different types of music. He is one of the top musical minds of our generation for a reason. Between enthralling himself into the culture of country music and teaming up with some of the genre’s greatest minds, he could put together a heck of a country album. As a matter of fact, few (if any) artists could do a better job of making the jump. Could this transition have some hiccups? Sure, but that’s to be expected with anyone. But that doesn’t mean that Ed Sheeran isn’t fully capable of doing this and doing it well.
