Sheffield-based alternative metal band Bring Me The Horizon have been riding the crests of the British metal scene for well over a decade. But when the legends performed their headline slot at 2022’s Reading Festival, they shocked their audience with a rare live collaboration, featuring a star from the polar opposite end of the music spectrum: five-time Brit Award winner Ed Sheeran.
Taking Ed’s #1 single “Bad Habits” to the Reading stage, Bring Me The Horizon turned the pop hit on its head, with their genre-twisting rendition going viral with over 4 million views to date. Music Man readers can check out the magic in the video below!
Ed steps on stage smiling wide with nerves. But despite performing before a sea of metalheads, the crowd chants every line of Ed’s hit word-for-word, proving what inescapable anthems this star’s hits have become. Oli Sykes, frontman for Bring Me the Horizon, riles up the crowd, mouthing the lyrics himself, before jumping in for the first chorus.
As Ed takes centre stage with an electric guitar, he joins forces with BMTH’s guitarists, laying a chugging riff beneath his chorus, amputating the pop vibes from his hit. When the post-chorus drops, the effect is completely staggering. Can’t remember how Ed’s original sounded? Check it out in the clip below, and get ready for the jaw-dropping contrast.
However, on the Reading stage, it’s Oli Sykes who steals all attention with his epic second verse. Against this wildfire backdrop, Oli’s voice matches the song to unlikely perfection, as his band turns it into a BMTH hit.
Despite Ed appearing a little out of his comfort zone, Reading’s metalhead division absorbed him as one of their own. As one fan of this viral video commented, “Ed Sheeran is the capybara of the music world. This man will turn up in any genre and be welcomed in.” Another viewer pointed out, “This is great for non-metal listeners and also for metalheads. It is great to have some song as a middleground for everyone.”
Surprisingly, this wasn’t the first time Ed had teamed up with Bring Me the Horizon. In February 2022, BMTH joined Ed at the Brit Awards for their first surprise collaboration, featuring this exact song, to the tune of 9.9 million YouTube views. The unlikely friends even released an official audio version of their collab online, which has topped an eye-watering 22 million views to date.