“I’m not going to play music anymore; I’m simply going to be a dad.” Ed Sheeran was on the verge of quitting music to focus on fatherhood

Image by:  Digital Spy

Ed revealed he stopped playing music during his year-long vacation and focus on becoming a dad to his daughter Lyra before opting to return to the stage.

After the birth of his daughter Lyra in August, Ed, who is presently No. 1 on the Official Singles Chart with his comeback single Bad Habits and has sold over 150 million albums, claimed he considered becoming a stay-at-home parent.

Fortunately, Ed Sheeran changed his mind and concluded that continuing to make music was best for him and his family.

On his interview on Sirius XM Hits 1, The Grammy winner told that after completing his record-breaking Divide tour, he felt like he’d done everything he could in music and wasn’t sure what he might do next, so he took 18-months vacation from it. “Right, that’s it, I’m just gonna be a dad. I’m not gonna play music any more.” After he and his wife Cherry Seaborn become parents.

Photo by: Billboard.com 

“I found myself getting really sad and having zero purpose…and then I suddenly was like, ‘I think it’s more important for my daughter to grow up knowing that her parents have a work ethic and her parents love working hard and and love creating and enjoy their jobs…rather than, like, looking at your dad as technically unemployed”, the singer-songwriter said.

“So I slowly got back into music that way, and then the creative process started flowing again,” he explains. “But there was a long period of time where everything was directionless”, he added.

Ed also claims to have recognized that chasing the next sales record isn’t the goal. The singer went on to remark that he doesn’t believe his success should be evaluated in ticket and record sales, but rather in the quality of his songs.

The Grammy-winner said: “I have people in my family that are like, ‘The next album has to be even bigger!’” he reveals. “And I know they’re saying to be supportive, but I’m like, ‘Maybe it shouldn’t be. Maybe it should just be an album, and maybe a career can kinda go [up and down] rather than always up.’”

Ed’s track Bad Habits is likely to return with a fifth week at the top of the Official Singles Chart on Friday (July 30), making it his fourth-longest chart topper behind Shape Of You (14 weeks), I Don’t Care (8 weeks), and Perfect (6 weeks).