The singer-songwriter surprised NYC fans with an impromptu performance on his album’s release day Friday
After a jury found Ed Sheeran’s hit song “Thinking Out Loud” did not copy Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On,” the singer celebrated with an impromptu performance for fans waiting outside his American Express pop-up in Manhattan’s SoHo.
On the same day, the musician released his new album −, or Subtract, on Friday. The record is the fifth and, according to the British singer-songwriter, final installment in his series of albums using mathematical symbols as their titles — the collection began with 2011’s +.
Sheeren climbed on top of a car Friday afternoon as fans screamed and pulled out their cellphones to record the moment. As he secured his acoustic guitar over his shoulders, Sheeran began to play his single “Boat” from his new record. “The more that I love, the less that I feel/The times that I jumped never were real/They say that all scars will heal, but I know,” sang the artist as he slowly circled on the spot. “Maybe I won’t, but the waves won’t break my boat/But the waves won’t break my boat.”
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In a post-trial statement, Sheeran said that while he was happy with the outcome, he was “unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.”
“These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before ‘Let’s Get It On’ was written, and will be used to make music long after we’re gone,” Sheeran added when speaking to the press. “They are in a songwriter’s alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way nobody owns the color blue.”
