As reported by Billboard Magazine and multiple outlets, Ed Sheeran told Australia’s Nova radio he will be forced to undergo surgery on a burst eardrum he suffered while vacationing in Spain earlier this year. The “Thinking Out Loud” singer detailed his overzealous mistake to Nova 96.9.
“I have to have an operation in January on my ear because I stupidly jumped off a yacht really high up and smashed it. It’s the most painful thing having a hole in your eardrum and having water go in. I landed wrong and it burst my eardrum so I have to go and get a graft, which means I’m not allowed to fly for a while, so it’s kind of good, it means I have to stay at home.”
Before Sheeran heads home, he’ll be wrapping up his world tour this weekend in New Zealand. The “x Tour” (pronounced “multiply tour”) began in August of 2014 spanning North America, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and South America. The year-and-a-half whirlwind covered 179 shows that kicked off in Osaka, Japan, and featured three sold-out dates in the 90,000 seat arena that is London’s Wembley Stadium.
The Australian leg of Ed Sheeran’s mammoth tour wrapped up Wednesday night where the artist was joined on stage by Elton John. The two British stars performed together before, most notably at the 2013 Grammy Awards. This year’s Grammy nominees were recently announced, with Sheeran receiving three nods. “Thinking Out Loud” garnered nominations for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance. His incredible run atop the charts recently had the Inquisitr asking if Sheeran is the biggest pop star in the world.
Sheeran isn’t the only male pop star to have had his eardrum perforated, however, as Justin Bieber recently suffered the same affliction , according to MTV News . Both went on to continue their scheduled performances, and Bieber earned his in somewhat similar fashion, detailing his ordeal on the MTV EMA red carpet.
“I was wakeboarding and I smashed my ear against the water so now I gotta like plug my ear against the screaming.”
Sheeran’s meteoric rise to superstardom has included being named the most streamed male artist in the United Kingdom, and he recently signed his second artist to his own record label, Gingerbread Man Records. However, he hasn’t been confined to just music. Sheeran announced on his Instagram page that he’ll be making a cameo in the latest installment of the Bridget Jones franchise, which is set to be released in September 2016. The film will star Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Patrick Dempsey. Sheeran is no stranger to acting, though, earning credits on the television shows Undateable and The Bastard Executioner .
Despite producing just two albums in his young career, Ed Sheeran has earned 112 award nominations (none in acting yet) and won 40 of them, including 2015’s Favorite Male Artist at the American Music Awards, Best Male Video for “Sing” at 2014’s MTV Video Music Awards, and Favorite Album and Favorite Male Artist at this year’s People’s Choice Awards.
It’s certainly been a banner two years for Sheeran, who has amassed over 34 million followers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook combined. And people were clamoring for him all year on social media. The Wall Street Journal reports that Sheeran was the most-discussed entertainer on Facebook in 2015, edging out Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and Caitlyn Jenner. That’s a lot of “likes” for Sheeran, who will go under the knife in January to repair his burst eardrum. He is expected to continue touring and return to the road later in 2016.
[Photo by Glenn Hunt/Getty Images]
