Ed Sheeran stepped into both fame and infamy after topping the charts, time and again, with his singer-songwriter ballads and all-out pop hits. Yet, away from the studio, Ed refuses to be a generic chart-topper who stays in his lane and sticks to the genre he knows best. He’s open-minded and fantastically curious about all musical styles under the sun, and we’ve dug out a rare backstage performance which proves it…
Music Man readers can watch Ed Sheeran jam with one of the biggest rock bands of the century in the viral video below. Amassing more than 498,000 views in two years, this one is bound to blow your mind, and maybe even change your opinion on the Yorkshire-born hitmaker!
Perched on a dressing room table backstage at The Roundhouse in London, 2023, Ed wields his usual acoustic guitar and seems ready to burst into one of his expected pop pieces. But Ed isn’t alone in the dressing room: he’s managed to enter the inner circle of “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” hitmakers The Darkness, and is about to run through a song with them.
Face to face with The Darkness’ frontman, Justin Hawkins, who has his own acoustic guitar slung around his neck, the unlikely duo breaks into an unplugged rehearsal of The Darkness’ single, “Love Is Only A Feeling,” which first reached the charts just under 20 years before this duet.
As nerves and excitement ripple through Ed, he strums the hit in perfect time with Justin in this all-natural and low-key performance. Justin takes the first few lines before Ed joins in stellar harmony, Justin soon trusting Ed enough to sing the lyrics solo in his surprisingly bold voice.
It’s astounding to see the versatility of Ed’s vocals, considering the backlash from his haters who accuse him of writing and performing the same, formulaic pop hits over and over again. Here, Ed breaks out of his mold, serving a refreshing glimpse into the real star behind the songwriter persona, and as the rehearsal plays out, it’s clear even The Darkness are impressed.
Yet the real highlight comes from The Darkness’ drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor, who practices his beats on some plastic bottle tops and a takeaway pot just behind Ed!
This rehearsal occurred just before Ed and The Darkness hit the stage in front of The Roundhouse’s packed-out theatre. Curious to see how their surprise, special-guest duet went down in front of a live rock audience? Check out the crowd’s reaction in the band’s official live video above!
This isn’t the only time Ed has dared to step out of the pop spotlight to duet with some unlikely special guests. In 2023, he joined forces with extreme metal overlords Cradle of Filth to conjure up ideas for a duet that is, sadly, still to be released. He’s even collabed with Bring Me The Horizon, reinventing his hit “Bad Habits” in the style of Sheffield’s biggest metal band!