Sensational pop star Ed Sheeran is the cover star for British GQ‘s latest issue.
Ahead of the launch of his new album ÷ Divide and 2017 tour, Ed Sheeran reveals his 30-year master plan, explains how he beat the world’s biggest stars by playing the numbers game and how Adele is his biggest competition.
Here is an excerpt from the interview
Ed Sheeran says his biggest competitor is Adele
“Adele is the one person who’s sold more records than me in the past ten years. She’s the only person I need to sell more records than. That’s a big f***ing feat because her last album sold 20 million. But if I don’t set her as the benchmark then I’m selling myself short.
“I’m not in competition creatively because we all sit in our own lanes, but once the creative product is out there is a race to the finish line.”

Ed Sheeran on his similarities to Taylor Swift
“There’s an underdog element to it. Taylor Swift was never the popular kid in school. I was never the popular kid in school. Then you get to the point when you become the most popular kid in school – and we both take it a bit too far.
She wants to be the biggest female artist in the world and I want to be the biggest male artist in the world. It also comes from always being told that you can’t do something and being like, ‘F*** you. I can.’”
Ed Sheeran doesn’t care about copycats
“There are a lot of singer-songwriters around now. I’m not the first but there are more than before. I’m very happy for everyone to be in the same race as me, even if they copy every single thing I’ve done. In a 100m sprint to get a No1 album I just know I’m going to win. I don’t care who’s doing what. I just know I’m going to win. I’m going to make sure I come first.”

Read the full Interview here