Ed Sheeran fans are treated to a surprise gig in his home county as he renames pub after his new song Old Phone

Daily Mail​

05-05-2025

Ed Sheeran fans were treated to a surprise gig in his home county of Suffolk over the bank holiday weekend.
The singer, 34, has just released his new single Old Phone and renamed The Thomas Wolsey in Ipswich town centre after the tune.
The pub has been taken over with the new name for two weeks and then it will revert to its original after.
Ed - who is known for his impromptu gigs - shared clips of the night on his Instagram and penned on the caption: 'Brought the Old Phone for a homecoming show in Ipswich today.
'Thank you to @fishclawband for rocking it with me and for everyone who came down. Old Phone out now x.'
Work started in the early hours of Sunday morning to rename the pub which is the title of the singer's newest song.
He announced on Friday three gigs in Ipswich Town, penning on socials: 'From Ipswich, MA to Ipswich, UK... we're bringing The Old Phone pub home this weekend.'
People were asked to respond to the message with a beer emoji for a chance to get invited.
He has previously opened versions of The Old Phone in Ipswich, Massachusetts in the US for one night, and another one at the Coachella festival in California last month.
It comes after last week Ed shared a series of throwback snaps to Instagram, including a fun selfie with Taylor Swift, while also reflecting on his copyright trial.
The star launched a new Instagram account to celebrate his 'emotional' new single Old Phone.
The account featured a number of never-before-seen pictures, texts, and lyric notes, and came ahead of the release of his new single on Thursday April 29.
Ed was inspired to write the new song when revisiting his old phone during the copyright lawsuit around his hit single Thinking Out Loud.
At the time, Ed denied he had ripped off Marvin Gaye's soul classic Let's Get it On for his 2014 hit song, and in 2023 was cleared in court.
People were asked to respond to the message with a beer emoji for a chance to get invited
Explaining the new account, Ed penned in a new Instagram post: 'Put the sound on and have a listen. I got rid of my phone 2015, and moved onto email full time. I just turned my phone off December '15 and that was it.
'When I got sued, the judge ordered me to give up my old devices to the other sides lawyers, to look through messages, emails, voice notes, videos, etc, to see if there was anything on there to help their case. In the process, I switched on my old phone.
'The first message was from my friend Jamal Edwards, who had recently passed away. The second was from my ex girlfriend who I hadn't been in contact with for years. The third was a family member I haven't spoken to in a decade. And so on.'
Ed shared pictures with pals including Taylor and the late Jamal Edwards, with the musician admitting looking through the phone made him emotional for a number of reasons.
Ed continued: 'It felt like a time capsule, a time of life that I was in, and living at that time in 2015. Turning it on really spun me out, I found myself scrolling messages and conversations with people who are no longer here.
'I found myself crying at messages to friends who are now dead, who I won't get to speak to again. I found old photos of me with people I was so close to then, but we've lost touch since.
'The whole experience was such an emotional journey. I wrote the song Old Phone on my own at 2am whilst jet lagged in India finishing the album, and recorded it that morning. It feels like a song that should've been on my debut album, but also a song I couldn't have written until I experienced real life things happening to me.'
Speaking on the meaningful new song, Ed added: 'It makes me emotional to sing, I hope it finds some emotion in you too. Maybe it makes you switch on your old phone and have a look at where you were a decade ago too. Whatever it does, I'm glad I wrote it. Old Phone, out Thursday 11am EDT / 4pm BST'
It came after Ed surprised Londoners with a lunchtime performance outside of King's Cross station.
The singer was dressed in a vibrant pink T-shirt as he set up in front of a backdrop of a large pink heart emblazoned with the word 'Azizam' in white - the name of his new song.
Fans were delighted as Ed played his acoustic guitar and belted out hit songs including Shape Of You, Perfect and Bad Habits.