Cliff Notes – Ed Sheeran kicks off tour with bum note by falling on his face in Madrid
- Ed Sheeran stumbled and fell on stage during his European tour opener in Madrid, quickly recovering and continuing his performance with humour.
- The singer expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support from fans, sharing his emotional experience on Instagram after the show.
Ed Sheeran kicks off tour with bum note by falling on his face in Madrid
Ed Sheeran took quite the tumble as he kicked off his new tour. His European tour got off to a rather flat start… and we’re not talking about his singing.
The Grammy-winning star took an almighty tumble on stage in front of thousands of fans as he performed in Madrid on Friday night.
Ed, 34, has sold out two concerts in the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, which holds over 70,000 at full capacity.
Fortunately for Ed fans further afield, the internet means they can still be part of the action each night… but unfortunately for the star, that also means his embarrassing moments live forever.
Videos captured by those in attendance show Ed sprinting out onto the stage and doing a lap, encouraging fans to clap ahead of his next song.
But his excitement appeared to get the better of him, as Ed ended up face down on the floor.
Ever the pro, though, he quickly got up and began strumming his guitar like nothing had happened, laughing off the blunder.
As fans behind their cameras also chuckled, Ed shook his head, launching into his 2017 Divide album hit Castle on the Hill.
Reacting to clips of the mishap, X user @laubermejo__ joked about the gig: ‘He had to be iconic from the start.’
‘He’s so cute, hope he’s ok’, wrote @tedlorsversion.
‘LOL it’s starting well’, laughed @stardustairz, while @mindofmyWalls wrote: ‘LOL Poor thing, he’s excited, leave him alone!’
Taking to Instagram after his record-breaking gig, Ed posted a video in which he soaked up the applause from the packed stadium, visibly overwhelmed and emotional.
Thankfully, the singer recovered
Ed is playing two record-breaking shows to 140,000 fans in Madrid.
His heartfelt caption read: ‘First show back for Mathematics in a long time. Honestly I get so low confidence sometimes in the music I put out still, I dunno how to explain it but I feel moments like this remind me how much I love what I do, and how much these songs connect, and how much I appreciate you guys for making me feel this feeling I’ve felt on stage since I was 11.’
‘I love being on the road and sharing these moments with you,’ he added.
‘Such an incredible night and an incredible feeling, thank you for making me feel so loved Madrid. See you tomorrow x’
Ed’s 2025 Mathematics Tour will see him play in 13 European countries this summer, with the set including his biggest tunes as well as tracks from his upcoming album Play, which lands in September.
The Azizam hitmaker’s popularity is clearly showing no signs of dipping, as he also sent fans wild with a surprise show last weekend.
Following rumours of a ‘big name’ taking to the stage at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Liverpool, Ed showed up on the New Music Stage on Saturday afternoon, saying he chose the stage because he’d ‘never played it before’ and the tent had ‘the best energy’.
His new album, Play, will be released in September (Picture: Timothy Norris/Getty Images)
In fact, Ed’s career is still going so strong that access to the tent had to be temporarily restricted as it reached maximum capacity.
Also performing at Big Weekend was Stargazing singer Myles Smith, who is supporting Ed on his tour.
Ed first burst onto the music scene in 2011 and has gone on to sell over 200million records worldwide.
Speaking recently about his future, the music icon revealed he plans to wrap things up after releasing 10 unique studio albums, inspired by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
‘I wanted to do 10,’ explained Ed on Jimmy Fallon’s talk show. ‘I’m kind of a bit obsessed with [Quentin] Tarantino, and I heard he was doing 10 films, and he’s got his side projects like Grindhouse.
Ed is also continually working on a record to be released when he dies
‘I wanna do my 10 and then every now and then do a side project.’
Ed’s first run of albums followed a mathematical theme, the titles being Plus, Multiply, Divide, Subtract, and Equals.
Steering away from the series, he’s now going to include Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Stop, which is an idea he’s had since he was 18.
As well as that, dad-of-two Ed, who married childhood sweetheart Cherry Seaborn in 2019, is also doing ‘continuous work’ on a life-spanning album, which will be released upon his death.
Rather fittingly, it will be titled Eject.