The little-knowntown of Ipswich in eastern England has historically prided itself on farmingand football, but is now celebrating the stellar pop career of its most famousson, Ed Sheeran. The global hit machine's journey to stardom began in thenearby town of Framlingham, where he played his first gig in front of around 30people. Fourteen years later, the singer is capping off a two-yearinternational tour, on which he played for almost nine million people, withfour homecoming shows in Ipswich.
An exhibitionentitled "Made in Suffolk", will mark the event, tracing the careerof the singer/songwriter responsible for hit singles such as "Shape ofYou", which helped him amass a £160 million ($194 million, 175 millioneuro) fortune. The show reveals hissteely determination to make it in the music business and the unfailing supportof his parents, who sold merchandise during his early concerts.
A video montagefollows his journey from babyhood to adulthood, with his round face and shockof red hair a constant presence as he tries his hand at the piano, drums andthe guitar, always with a smile on his lips. A written account details how as a boy Edward Christopher Sheeran sangin the choir and played cello in the school orchestra in Framlingham while aphotograph captures him busking in the street, guitar case open to acceptdonations, aged 13.
Natural showman
Ian Johnson, whospotted Sheeran when he was 16 and helped him break through, told AFP how hewas "impressed with... the way he engaged the audience at thatage". His career took off with the2011 release of his first album, "+", followed by a series of hitsincluding "Don't", "Thinking Out Loud" and "Castle OnThe Hill", which explores his love of growing up in rural Suffolk. Theexhibition presents both the superstar who electrifies crowds at concerts inGermany, Australia and the United States-captured by photographer MarkSurridge-and also the four-time Grammy winner's more private side.
A bronzesculpture depicting a young Ed and his brother embracing each other is on show,as well as several drawings, including an Andy Warhol inspired self-portrait inorange and black, his favorite colors. Aseries of portraits by the painter Colin Davidson, who counts Queen ElizabethII as one of his previous subjects, reveal "the Ed I think we might seewhenever he's seemingly unaware of anyone else being in the room," he toldAFP. "I like to think that's themood that he's in whenever he's on his own, creating his work or writingsongs," added the painter.
'Humble' guy
Other highlightsof the free exhibition, which runs until spring 2020, are two of his guitars,one of which he named "Cyril", and which starred in more than 300concerts in 2009. There is also a puppet of the performer used in the videoclip for "Sing". In Ipswich, the superstar is a hero. The Swan pub in the town Centre sellspostcards and other memorabilia, and even keeps a bottle of Sheeran's favoriteketchup in a Plexiglas box "in case Ed comes".
Singer BarnyHolmes, who jammed with Sheeran about ten years ago, told AFP his success couldbe explained partly because "everyone can relate to anunderdog". "You have thisreally humble, sweet, pale ginger guy... but he was a sweet guy that you justdidn't expect to have such a big presence," Holmes said after a gig in thepub. "I think that's the Ed Sheeran effect." - AFP