A 2010s rocker has revealed that he’s embraced an old-school lifestyle, and the reason he’s embraced a simpler life.
According to Billboard, Ed Sheeran told fans during a tour stop at Accor Stadium in Sydney, Australia, that he has been living without a phone since 2015. He added that he prefers it that way.
The reflective rocker told audience members about the 2015 $100 million copyright lawsuit regarding his No. 1 hit, “Thinking Out Loud.” In the suit, Sheeran was accused of similarities between the 2014 tune and the 1973 Marvin Gaye classic, “Let’s Get It On.”
“In the last 10 years, if you have seen my name in the news, it might be related to a lawsuit, a copyright lawsuit in 2015,” Sheeran began. “I got sued for a song by someone else that had said I had stolen their song, and the only thing I could do in that situation, because I hadn’t done it, was take it to court and prove that I hadn’t done it.”
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He told the audience that, as part of the court case, he had to hand over all of his electronic devices, which were reportedly checked to see if any evidence related to the case was included on them. Subsequently, he stopped using a phone altogether.
Sheeran concluded, “I did a tour down here [in Australia] for ‘Multiply’ in 2015, and I remember at the end of that tour, I switched that phone off and going, ‘I do not want to use a mobile phone again.’ I moved to email, and I’ve used email since then.”
At the end of the legal battle, the musician had his devices returned to him. He admitted that when he turned them on, he felt as if he were in a “time machine” that took him back to 2007, when he first got the phone number he used for many years.
“It proper like spun me out. I was like frozen in time,” Sheeran said of the messages and photos. This discovery led him to write the song “Old Phone” for his eighth studio album, Play.
In April 2025, Sheeran posted on Facebook, “I wrote ‘Old Phone’ whilst in India finishing my album. It came by accident, because I was jet lagged and woke up at 2 am. Everyone else was asleep, so I thought, ‘might as well write a song’ and this was the first idea in my notes.”
Ed Sheeran is currently on tour throughout Australia, per his official website. His United States tour begins in June 2026,with dates scheduled through November.
This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
