Latest news with #TheGalwayGirl
Wales Online
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Ed Sheeran says he identifies culturally as Irish
Ed Sheeran says he identifies culturally as Irish The Galway Girl singer, 34, who was brought up in Suffolk, has a large Irish family and said he would spend his holidays in the country as a child Ed Sheeran (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo ) Pop singer Ed Sheeran has said he identifies culturally as Irish despite being born and raised in England. The Galway Girl singer, 34, who was brought up in Suffolk, has a large Irish family and said he would spend his holidays in the country as a child. "I class my culture as Irish. I think that's what I grew up with," he told The Louis Theroux Podcast. "My mum's family is very, very small, it's her and her parents, and my dad's family is... he's got seven brothers and sisters. "We'd spend all of our holidays in Ireland. My first musical experiences were in Ireland, I grew up with trad music in the house. So I identify culturally as Irish, but I was obviously born and raised in Britain. "I do feel like my culture is something that I'm really proud of and grew up with and want to express. Article continues below "And I feel like just because I was born in Britain doesn't necessarily mean that I have to just be (British), there's loads of people I know that are half this or quarter this." He added: "I don't think there's any rules to it. It should be how you feel and how you were raised and what you lean into." Asked if he gets "a lot of love" in Ireland, he said: "I'd say it's basically my second home musically. I'd say Ireland is the place that I am most successful musically." Sheeran previously told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that he has Irish family and spent most of his childhood summers, birthdays and Christmases in the country. Also on the podcast, Sheeran reflected on the drawbacks of fame and said he is "really sensitive" to people taking pictures of his children. "My first daughter, six weeks after she was born, we hadn't sent any photos of her whatsoever, but there was paparazzi outside our house that got a photo of her, and it was in the paper and I just found it weird that some strange old man that I'd never met was the only person with an image of my kid on their device. "It's a strange trade-off because, obviously, to be successful in the music industry, you end up being rich, famous and successful, and those things are things that people go, 'Well, that's the trade-off.' "But my kids have not signed up to that, and I find it weird that it's normal to take pictures of other people's children if they're famous." Sheeran is married to Cherry Seaborn and the couple have two children. Article continues below The four-time Grammy-winning singer also revealed that he does not own a private jet and likes to travel via train. "I like the environment, I like trees. I'd find it hard to justify. No one's perfect. When we're doing intense promo trips, there will be the odd time", he told Theroux.
Sunday World
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Steve Earle reveals the old Irish pal who can claim to be the true 'Galway Girl'
'The Galway Girl will be remembered in at least one place in the world long after I'm gone.' American singer and songwriter Steve Earle says that one of his most famous songs, The Galway Girl, is likely to be remembered long after he's forgotten. It's one of my all-time favourite songs and Steve, who will play The Helix in Dublin next October 25 on his Fifty Years Of Songs And Stories tour, says he wrote it while living in Galway back in the late 1990s. It wasn't written about a particular Galway girl, but Steve says he's happy for his Dublin-born friend Joyce Redmond to claim it. 'It's a composite character, but one of my dearest friends, a woman called Joyce Redmond, absolutely has my permission to go around saying she's The Galway Girl,' Steve says. 'We've never been romantically involved. Joyce grew up in Howth, but her grandmother is from Aran and she went to Galway years ago and she sings in sessions. 'The part of the song about meeting someone on 'The Long Walk' in Galway was her. She used to go for a walk there every morning and feed the swans, and I was just wandering around and we met. She was the one showing me around the pubs and where the good sessions were and all that stuff, so if anyone gets to be The Galway Girl it's Joyce.' Steve Earle Today's News in 90 seconds - Thursday, May 1 Steve, whose hits include Copperhead Road, first recorded The Galway Girl with Sharon Shannon, but he credits Irish singer songwriter Mundy with making it a major hit. 'The Galway Girl will be remembered in at least one place in the world long after I'm gone. It's become part of culture there (in Ireland). And I have the Mundy version to thank for that – that's when it really happened (became a hit).'
