Ed Sheeran reveals Eminem album helped cure him of his childhood stammer
Suffolk popstar was appearing on Desert Island Discs and said he was given the record by his uncle when he was nine and that imitating the rap lyrics was a form of therapy
ED Sheeran has said listening to rap music helped cure him of his childhood stammer.
The popstar revealed that his uncle bought him an Eminem album when he was nine-years-old.
Speaking on , which was broadcast on Friday, the Suffolk native said: “My parents didn’t know the content of the album, and I must have been nine when it came out.
“And when you’re nine and someone is saying rude stuff, you wanna learn it. So I learnt it, and he raps at such a fast pace that my stammer would go.
“And that, weirdly enough, was the speech therapy that cured me. I then got awarded an award at a ‘stuttering gala’.
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“I don’t really know what it was for, but I went there, and there were a bunch of kids who said exactly the same thing: that singing and music stopped them stammering.”
This weekend Mr Sheeran was revealed to be worth £52m which puts him at number 12 on The Sunday Times’ young rich list.
He selected Stan, one of Eminem’s smash hits, as one of the records he would take with him if he had to be stranded on a desert island.
The 26-year-old, whose portrait was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery this week, said he “couldn’t really hold a tune” until he was about 16.
He also said that he had an unconventional upbringing and that “we weren’t really allowed to watch TV.
“Like we only had David Attenborough on VHS, and that was the only thing we were allowed to watch, and, other than that, I didn’t even know anything else existed.”
Ed Sheeran’s Desert Island Discs
Layla – Derek and the Dominos
Carrickfergus – Van Morrison & The Chieftains
Stan – Eminem ft. Dido
Volcano – Damien Rice
Flooded Quarry – Nizlopi
They Won’t Go When I Go – Stevie Wonder
Indian Sunset – Elton John
Two Shades of Hope – Foy Vance
Mr Sheeran is known for his generous personality and gave VIP tickets to a teenager with terminal cancer after she bought fake ones by mistake and was turned away at one of his gigs.
Other tracks he selected included Layla by Derek and the Dominos as well as Indian Sunset by Elton John.
He said if he could save only one record it would be Flooded Quarry by Nizlopi and would take a life-time supply of tomato ketchup as his luxury item.
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