Ed Sheeran announces he will be taking a break from music to 'do the dad thing for a while' during first show of his North American tour

Ed Sheeran told fans he was stepping back from music to 'do the dad thing' for a while on stage during the first date of his North American tour.

The singer, 35, shared his career update during the gig, which is a part of his LOOP tour in Glendale, Arizona on Saturday night.

Pausing to chat to the crowd after singing a series of his well known hits, Ed told them that they 'may not see him again for a while'.

Ed said: 'This is gonna be my last time here in a while. I might take some time off once this tour has ended and sort of do the dad thing.

'So if I don't see you for a while, I love you, thank you for coming.'

Ed shares his two children, Lyra, five, and Jupiter, four, with his wife Cherry Seaborn, who he married in January 2019 after first meeting as children. 

The star has been away from his family for most of the year already, beginning his tour in New Zealand in January before performing in Australia and South America.

Ed will play his show across North America for the next five months, concluding the long run of performances in Tampa, Florida, on November 7.

Ed has previously taken breaks from music in 2015 following his Multiply album and tour and also between 2019-2021 following his two-year Divide era.

Last month Ed shared with his fans that he had decided to leave his record label after 15 years.

Sharing a statement, he said: 'This isn't a 'disgruntled artist leaves record label. This is a boy who started as a teenager on the company with different priorities, to the father-of-two man who exists now, who feels like he needs a shift and change.'

The statement sent shockwaves through the music industry – but what he failed to divulge was that he had in fact walked out on what has been described as an 'incredible deal'.

This prompted speculation that the Shape Of You star now has little time for his label, Asylum Records, part of the Warner Music Group.

And while there were plaudits for how respectful his words were, many insiders have been left questioning whether the company still has the cachet it once had since 'nepo baby' Aaron Bay-Schuck, son of Hollywood actors John Schuck and Susan Bay, was placed in charge of Warner Records, another of its divisions, globally last year.

Ed signed to Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Warner, in 2011. 

Since then he has sold an estimated 200million albums and Shape Of You, with nearly five billion streams on Spotify, is one of the most streamed songs in history.

His huge profits have enabled him to build his own 'town', dubbed 'Sheeranville', close to where he grew up in Framlingham, Suffolk, which features a sprawling home, a pub, a chapel and a nature pond.

As for Ed's future, he is yet to announce which label he will go to.

Sources are quick to say he is a 'different person' to the one he was 15 years ago.

Today, he sees himself as a 'grown-up' and a businessman. 

He is also a family man after marrying childhood sweetheart Cherry.

Industry insiders say that he is considering a move to 26.2 – a newly launched record label in partnership with Sony Music, led by former Warner executives Julie Greenwald and Max Lousada.