Ed Sheeran says “Love Yourself” would not have been as big of a hit if he had kept it for himself instead of giving it to Justin Bieber.
“People always say, 'Why didn’t you keep it?’ And to be honest, he was on such a roll at that point that I think it wouldn’t have been as big if I’d sung it,” Sheeran said during a conversation with Jack Antonoff at the Audacy Beach Festival.
“He had his whole period of his life that was a bit...you know what I mean… and America loves a comeback story.”
Bieber released “Love Yourself” in 2015. The song topped the charts in more than a dozen countries, including Canada, and was ranked one of the top-selling singles of 2016 in the U.S. “Love Yourself” also earned Grammy nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
“It was so massive for him… I think it's his biggest song... anywhere in the world, if I picked up a guitar and played that, they'd be like ‘Oh my god, you wrote that!’”