Ed Sheeran announced on Christmas Eve that he’s taking another break from music.
“The Divide era and tour changed my life in so many ways, but now it’s all over it’s time to go out and see some more of the world,” the singer wrote in a message to fans on social media.
“I’ve been a bit non stop since 2017 so I’m just gonna take a breather to travel, write and read.”
Sheeran said he will stay off social media “until it’s time to come back.”
He also thanked fans for their support. “I promise to be back with some new music when the time is right and I’ve lived a little more to actually have something to write about.”
Sheeran’s Divide Tour ran from March 2017 to August 2019 and grossed a reported $776.2 million U.S. to become the most successful concert tour ever. It included 11 shows in seven Canadian cities.
“I feel very lucky to have experienced all of the wonderful countries and crowds over the past two-and-a-half years,” Sheeran said, in a statement in August. “Thank you to the fans and everyone who made it possible.”
It’s not the first time Sheeran has taken a break from the spotlight. In 2017, Elton John said he encouraged the singer to take some time off. “He was so omnipresent I said, ‘Ed, even I'm sick of you. Go away.’ And he did,” John told Rolling Stone. “He just went to the Far East with his girlfriend, had a great time, put on a lot of weight, ate food and came back.”
Sheeran recently debuted a video for “Put It All On Me” in which he confirmed that he married Cherry Seaborn in January.