Ed Sheeran and Tom Jones To Play At Australian Football League Grand Final

Ed Sheeran will be performing at the grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL) on September 27.

Sheeran, a U.K. singer/songwriter, will be joining the headliner Tom Jones, Welsh rock star and music legend. According to The Age, the AFL finally unveiled the lineup, including Ed Sheeran, after much anticipation and a long wait. With the announcement came a statement from the AFL’s CEO Gillon McLachlan that Ed and Tom’s performance will be moved back to the traditional pre-game slot. The AFL tried out the American style of inserting musical performances during halftime, but now they’re going back to the original Australian method.

Ed Sheeran, 23, shot to fame very recently with hits like “Sing” and “The A Team.” Sheeran’s second album x multiply was released in July and reached the number one spot on the Billboard U.K. charts. Ed may not be quite as successful in Australia, but six of his songs have made it to the top 10 spots in the Australian singles charts.

The CEO, McLachlan, jokingly said that Ed Sheeran should change his name to Ed “Sherrin” for the sake of the grand final show.

Ed Sheeran will be exclusively performing his hit singles–likely the ones that charted in the Land Down Under.

While Sheeran is new to the music game, Tom Jones is a season veteran. He was knighted in 2006 and has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.

“He is one of the world’s most successful and endearing singers, and he still has women throwing their underwear on stage,” said McLachlan during the AFL’s finals series launch.

According to The Daily Mail, Ed Sheeran and Tom Jones will also be joined by Olivia Newton John. John is considered an Australian music icon, and she has previous performed for the AFL, but this will be her first time singing the Australian national anthem in 28 years.

“It’s such a huge event, it’s one of the biggest sporting events of the year in Australia,” said Olivia. “It’s a bit nerve-wracking because you want to get it right, but it’s exciting, there’s a lot of energy from the crowd.”

Faster Louder reported that Ed Sheeran became aware of how popular the AFL was after spending some time in Australia recently. The stadium contains roughly 100,000 people which shouldn’t do much to shake the nerves of Ed Sheeran, who is one of the hottest new pop stars alive today.

Be sure to catch the AFL Grand Final on September 27.

For more on Ed Sheeran, check out The Inquisitr’s report on the two songs he recorded with David Guetta.