Ed Sheeran Announces Special Run of Intimate North American Shows Amid Copyright Trial
The 32-year-old pop star gears up for his upcoming "+-=x Tour" (pronounced: "The Mathematics Tour").
Ed Sheeran is hitting the road. As the 32-year-old pop star gears up for his upcoming "+-=x Tour" (pronounced: "The Mathematics Tour"), he announced on Friday a special run of intimate shows to coincide with the release of his new album, - (pronounced: "Subtract").
"I'm playing some smaller theatre shows in the U.S. this summer, so I can play Subtract the entire way through with full band in an intimate setting," Sheeran explained on social media.
The Subtract Tour will take place in theaters and auditoriums in 14 cities across North America, beginning in Clearwater, Florida, on May 19 and wrapping at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, on September 22. The smaller-scale performances will coincide with his massive stadium shows for The Mathematics Tour, which kicks off May 6 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Fans can register for tickets to The Subtract Tour through Ticketmaster's Verified Fan between Friday, April 28 at 10:00 a.m. ET. and Sunday, April 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Verified Fan Onsale begins Tuesday, May 2 at 10:00 a.m. local venue time. See the full list of dates for both tours below.
Singer-songwriter Ben Kweller will open for Sheeran on most dates of The Subtract Tour.
Meanwhile, Sheeran's four-part Disney+ documentary, Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All, begins streaming on May 3. The star is also set to release his deeply personal new album, – (pronounced: Subtract), on May 5.
The announcement comes amid the ongoing copyright lawsuit against him.
The lawsuit against Sheeran, which kicked off earlier this week, alleges that the singer lifted portions of Marvin Gaye's iconic song, "Let's Get It On," to use in his song, "Thinking Out Loud."
Towards the end of his testimony on Thursday, Sheeran said he disagreed that "Thinking Out Loud" was a copy of "Let's Get It On."
He testified about his writing process and even picked up his guitar while on the stand and started playing the chord progression of "Thinking Out Loud" before singing one of the lines: "When your legs don't work like they used to before."
Sheeran similarly defended the track during his testimony on Wednesday, where he addressed a video that had been submitted as evidence, showing him performing a mash-up of "Thinking Out Loud" and "Let's Get It On" at a concert.
"I mash up songs at lots of gigs. Many songs have similar chords. You can go from 'Let It Be' to 'No Woman No Cry' and switch back," Sheeran argued. "And quite frankly, if I’d done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that."
Testimony wrapped Thursday afternoon with Sheeran due back in court on Monday.
RELATED CONTENT: