Is Ed Sheeran the greatest music artist of all time?

His concert sales and albums speak for itself. His music is fantastic as well.

I can't think of anyone better than him.

Garth Brooks or go fúck yourself.

RobertKK

It is obviously Taylor Swift as Ed Sheehan sings songs on her albums at times and was the support act to her tour in the past…

Wibbs

Eh... No. Just no. Repeating, forever. EG:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIHPbvviS2w

cj maxx

NO

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223618/is-ed-sheeran-the-greatest-music-artist-of-all-time

You sound like you've only listened to 20 songs in your life. Your comment is an insult to the actual greats.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349725#Comment_118349725

Listened to a lot of artists and Ed is indeed the Billy GOAT

Gregor Samsa

I don’t know, guys. I’m sensing a lot of negativity and defensiveness, but no actual arguments against the claim. OP might be on to something.

Danzy

He certainly is the best musician out of England since the 70s.

Danzy

cj maxx

To tell you the truth, I was sick to death of hearing about Ed Sheeran. There was 1 song on the radio I loved . It was by ..... Ed .xxxxxxx Sheeran. Bad Habits.

Haters gonna hate

10000maniacs

What's an Ed Sheeran? Never heard of one.

StupidLikeAFox

Tbf to Ed sheeran he can write a song. If the likes of westlife didn't have "the machine" behind them they would be nothing, but if Ed sheeran didn't have the machine behind him I think he would still have a following as a decent singer/songwriter.

I'm not a fan but I can appreciate that he has some talent, unlike a lot of people off the pop conveyor belt. I think history will be kind to him as a pop great and seems a sound enough fella to boot

ben.schlomo

Try harder OP.

bucketybuck

Ed Sheeran was used as a joke character in a movie about the Beatles, his role was to serve as a humorous contrast to the real musical idols of the film. It worked because everybody accepted him in that role, he was indeed famous but not respected enough to ever seriously be compared to the Beatles, while a real superstar might actually have begged the question.

Ed Sheeran, bit part actor, best known for supporting role in a rom com.

10000maniacs

Steps to becoming a pop star. 2010's style.

Take Van The Mans song, "Crazy Love", add your own lyrics and record it in a whiney whingey manner that impresses females.

Get it to number 1.

Borrow KT Tunstall's guitar loop technique. Go on tour.

2010's pop package invented.

Scuid Mhór

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223618/is-ed-sheeran-the-greatest-music-artist-of-all-time

Imagine being this sheltered from "culture".

He does have that gg allin type appeal for sure, but he's no dolly parton.

Ficheall

Had Ed been around 20+ years ago, he wouldn't have gotten beyond playing gigs in pubs because the singer-songwritery types were ten-a-penny. Now, popular music seems to be veering in other directions, but the "niche" for singer-songwriter demand is still reasonably large - the supply is just a lot less. Ed got lucky - as can be said for most people who "make it".

Flinty997

Modern artists have easy access to a world audience that older artists didn't have.

But you can compare sales numbers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists#250_million_or_more_records

In fairness Ed worked his ass off to get where he is. While I like some of his songs, its very samey.

Quantum Erasure

I preferred his earlier stuff...

Capt'n Midnight

..

riclad

No he's maybe in the top 100, he sells alot of cds, downloads, or streams, in 50 years time people will remember the beatles, ABBA, Taylor swift, Beyonce, Madonna, elvis presley, dolly Parton, Neil Young, Adele, joni Mitchell, enimem, sting, David Bowie, Tina Turner, guns and roses, Simon and garfunkle, Kate Bush. Elton John Etc etc he writes mostly love sings with clever lyrics and fairly basic tunes

Just because you sell millions of cds or get millions of streams does not mean you are a great musician or a great songwriter quality is not always a sign of greatness

No one else writes like joni Mitchell or Kate Bush theres not many songwriters that write songs that are interesting and reflect real life and their experiences and are more than basic love songs

I think his songs are fairly basic and simple love songs and will be forgotten in 10 years i think he got lucky and his songs are fairly simple to understand with fairly basic melody's and singer songwriters have an advantage over 90 per cent of singers who hope they might get a chance to sing a hit sing

Coming from the UK is an advantage if you want to get promoted by music company's and appear on tv shows etc

There's always singers whose albums are reviewed in the guardian music column this a great album great original singer with amazing talent etc no one buys the album they are never heard from again

every day there's 1000s of new songs released on soundcloud everyday it takes abit of luck to make a impact and become popular or even get the chance for the public to listen to your music

Millions of people watch TV shows reality TV soap operas which are mediocre and meaningless in terms of artistic merit most of the singers on the xfactor were awful or else average there were maybe 5 good singers on it and it was on tv for years , one direction have some talent and singing ability

Just because something is popular does not make it good or important many popular singers from the 60s and 70s are now forgotten I think he has a talent for writing good lyrics and making songs that are bland and appeal to young women and his voice is OK

Maybe Eminem is better?

Lewis_Benson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223618/is-ed-sheeran-the-greatest-music-artist-of-all-time

No, he is not.

There's always singers whose albums are reviewed in the guardian music column this a great album great original singer with amazing talent etc no one buys the album they are never heard from again

Same when it comes to literary fiction.. excellent reviews in the 'serious' press.... "stunning work, perfectly captures the XXXX of the YYYY, and the cyclist's favourite compliment "This novel is a TOUR DE FORCE" etc etc and so on.. and the book goes on to sell maybe a couple thousand copies.

Irish music reviews are even more preposterous.. there are 'stars' and 'legends' out there that have only sold a few thousand records. Last time I checked, you only needed to sell about 500 copies of a single in a week to chart here.

So much PR and fluff to wade through when it comes to the arts in general... I just try ignore it all and find what I ilke regardless of the artist's reputation, sales etc.

bnt

At one point I was convinced I had never heard any Ed Sheeran: it turned out that I had, but it went straight in one ear and out the other. He’s a busker, and I hate buskers. I think they are death to music. I’m trying to learn some guitar, but refuse to play in standard tuning, so I can’t do the “cowboy chords” and am less likely to do busker-ish things.

magic_murph

OP - If you are seriously asking this question you know nothing about music.

being the most popular (played) doesn't make you the greatest.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223618/is-ed-sheeran-the-greatest-music-artist-of-all-time

Greatest business man maybe , there’s not a lot in the music , if an older musician released the same music they’d be laughed at

Tork

Does he reverse into parking spaces?

mary 2021

If you are asking this question then you know very little about music. Here's a sample of some you should listen to if you dare:

Tom Waites

Nick Cave

Leonard Cohen

Peter Gabriel

thats just for starters.

Sheeren was a busker on the streets of Galway he has not really evolved that much just has a good backing group of musicians, the listening public have become less discerning it seems.

gizabeer

No , not nearly , he's brutal

Mr. CooL ICE

No he's maybe in the top 100, he sells alot of cds, downloads, or streams, in 50 years time people will remember the beatles, ABBA, Taylor swift, Beyonce, Madonna, elvis presley, dolly Parton, Neil Young, Adele, joni Mitchell, enimem, sting, David Bowie, Tina Turner, guns and roses, Simon and garfunkle, Kate Bush. Elton John Etc etc he writes mostly love sings with clever lyrics and fairly basic tunes

Exactly. He's pretty much a modern day Nik Kershaw

thefallingman

he's a jumped up busker, so no he's far from it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352353#Comment_118352353

refusing to play in standard tuning?! harsh! this is subversive, cultural black ops musicianship! I suppose you smoke them jazz cigarettes too.

2 fast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223618/is-ed-sheeran-the-greatest-music-artist-of-all-time

No 👎

Gregor Samsa

• Tom Waits - Middle class fake beatnik making money from romanticising poverty.
• Nick Cave - Only major accomplishment was giving Kylie Minogue some street-cred with the Goths.
• Leonard Cohen - didn't even sing the best version of his only good song.
• Peter Gabriel - only major accomplishment was a plasticine video.

Sheeran has an authenticity that blows all of these out of the water. He's just unfortunate that he embodies 3 things that Boards users hate: red hair, success and appearances on The Late Late Show.

mary 2021

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352498#Comment_118352498

thats your opinion and thankfully we can still have opinions on music at least. Also, to add i think a dog howling to an Adele song would sell out at the moment as people are so starved of entertainment and want to mix and chat and go places so selling out is no biggie people want something to do besides worry ! Tom Waites soldiers things is a beautiful song, i could name some lovely songs from those artists but no point. Have a good day.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352440#Comment_118352440

nik Kershaw is like dream theatre compared to Ed

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352517#Comment_118352517

Opinion doesn’t come into it

sameoldname

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352498#Comment_118352498

Jesus, whenever I hear a song of his I always think to myself; "There's a guy who's desperately trying to convince people he has an emotional connection with what he's singing about." I only know one of his songs too (the one where he plagiarised Marvin Gaye), so it's only after the song is over and the radio DJ names the artist that I realise who it is half the time, yet I nearly always think that whoever it is, it comes off as remarkably inauthentic.

As for his greatness as an artist, has he actually moved music forward in any way? Anything I've heard of his sounds like bland/generic 90's and early 2000's boy band style pop, but as I said, I know practically nothing of his music.

growleaves

No I don't think so. I'll just discuss his lyrics in this post....

His lyrics sounds like they were written by a committee.

Take "Castle on the Hill". We never even find out what castle it is.

"Fifteen years old and smoking hand-rolled cigarettes

Running from the law through the backfields and

Getting drunk with my friends

Had my first kiss on a Friday night"

"One friend left to sell clothes

One works down by the coast

One had two kids, but lives alone

One's brother overdosed"

These descriptions have a generic quality, they aren't particular enough.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223618/is-ed-sheeran-the-greatest-music-artist-of-all-time

Maybe keep thinking?

He is ok...nice background music or something for an advert...but that's about it imo

Riddle101

I don't put a lot of merit on concert sales or music albums as you'll often find a lot of the modern trendy artists end up making way more than their talent deserves. The likes of Justin Beiber and Cardi B have made huge amounts of money for their music but I would never compare them to the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, or Queen who I believe to be far greater in terms of legacy and talent.

Ed Sheeran is alright but calling him the greatest artist of all time is a bit of a stretch. How do you compare him to Elvis Presley or David Bowie or Michael Jackson? There's an awful lot of artists I would put ahead of Ed Sheeran.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352579#Comment_118352579

Dude's got a tomato ketchup named after him:

I don't think The Beatles have a single condiment to their name, despite Lennon saying "Cranberry Sauce" twice at the end of Strawberry Fields Forever. Neither Heinz, Chef or Chivers picked up on it at all. Nor indeed Keelings for the strawberries. God loves a trier, but that was embarrassing.

In all fairness, Oasis got a soft drink named after them, but it's not very nice.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352579#Comment_118352579

I know nothing about Ed Sheeran and just one of his songs but I'm going to just go along with the mob and call him ****

Relikk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352498#Comment_118352498

Jaysus...

tdf7187

Well sure yeah, but only if McDonald's is the greatest restaurant of all time.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352760#Comment_118352760

Don't get me started on him. His stuff is rubbish.

sameoldname

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352703#Comment_118352703

1. I never called him ****.
2. I'm not the one who considers Ed Sheeran better than Bach or Beethoven so sorry if I didn't feel the need to be fully up on his back catalogue to respond. It self-evidently isn't that type of thread.