Ed Sheeran says ACM performance will include country-tinged surprise

Though 32-year-old, four-time Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran would appear to be the furthest thing from a country music enthusiast, he glibly discussed the finer points of how Garth Brooks skirted around local laws to play five consecutive dates at Dublin, Ireland's Croke Park in September 2022 with The Tennessean after exiting the on-field stage at Frisco, Texas' Ford Center at The Star, home of Thursday evening's 2023 Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards.

The "Shape of You" vocalist was standing in a service entrance hallway at the venue that doubles as the Dallas Cowboys' 12,000-seat practice facility and a premier high school football stadium because he's appearing on the Thursday evening's free-to-stream event airing live on Amazon's Prime Video and Twitch's Amazon Music channel.

The track he's singing, "Life Goes On," is from "Subtract," his just-released sixth studio album -- will also include something of a country-tinged "surprise," he added.

Sheeran was mum, yet smiling with a twinkle in his eye when pushed for even a hint of who -- or what -- could be involved.

Famously, Sheeran's recent country exploits include currently being a judge on American Idol alongside ACM Triple Crown Award winner (career Entertainer of the Year, New Artist and Artist category wins) Luke Bryan, plus appearing alongside another Luke -- 14-consecutive time Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper Combs -- on tour, on stage, to perform Sheeran's song "Dive" in London in March 2022.

He added that he had moved to Nashville in 2013 while serving as support for 66 North American dates of Taylor Swift's 2013 "Red" tour (and returned for good to Hendersonville's suburbs in 2018) and his initial time in Music City during that era intersecting with fellow openers like Florida Georgia Line (alongside Swift) experiencing record-shattering sales success highlighted to him the undeniable top-tier abilities of Nashville's songwriting community.

Sheeran added that his wife of four years, Cherry Seaborn, is a "huge" fan of the genre; thus, he stays perpetually relevant with all of the machinations of country music's top stars at any given moment.

Tune in: How to watch ACM Awards 2023 on TV, live stream

When told about the direct influence that his decade-long run of global pop stardom has served as a direct influence for Music Row songwriting favorites like Brandy Clark, Nicolle Galyon, Natalie Hemby, Lori McKenna, and Laura Veltz, plus how hit songs they've written for acts like Brandi Carlile, Dan + Shay, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Tim McGraw all bear clear analogs to his Grammy-winning anthems, he demurred, then offered the following answer:

"Currently], Nashville is obviously the home of country music, but it is obviously also now the songwriting hub where all songwriters, [regardless of genre], are heading to because [the creativity I've inspired] has [even more] made it a fantastic place to be a songwriter."

Overall, Sheeran highlights that country music's surge to being part of globally leading popular culture is an "amazing" moment.

The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards will be presented Thursday night, May 11, at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

The two-hour event will be hosted by Dolly Parton (whose performance of new "Rockstar" album single "World On Fire" will close the show) and Garth Brooks and feature performances from Sheeran, alongside seven-time 2023 ACM award nominee HARDY, as well as Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina performing their ACM Award-nominated hit "She Had Me At Heads Carolina," plus Ashley McBryde pairing with Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack, Pillbox Patti, and John Osborne on guitar to perform "Bonfire At Tina's" from McBryde's ACM Award-nominated album "Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville." Also, in a pairing of ACM Female Vocalist of the Year winners, 1998's victor Trisha Yearwood and 2022's winner Carly Pearce will pair for a medley of Yearwood's classics.

Plus, Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, The War And Treaty, Lainey Wilson, and Bailey Zimmerman are slated to hit the stage.

Streaming live for a 240-country global audience, the event will be accessible for free, exclusively on Amazon's Prime Video and Twitch's Amazon Music channel. In addition, the event's full rebroadcast will be available after the show on Prime Video, Amazon's Music App and for free on Amazon Freevee.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 2023 ACM Awards: Ed Sheeran performs 'Life Goes On' with Luke Combs