Suffolk has always played an important part in the life of Ed Sheeran.

East Anglian Daily Times: Before becoming a global megastar, Ed Sheeran played at The Swan in Ipswich in 2010 Picture: JEN O'NEILLBefore becoming a global megastar, Ed Sheeran played at The Swan in Ipswich in 2010 Picture: JEN O'NEILL (Image: Archant)

As a child Ed’s family moved to Framlingham where he attended local schools including Thomas Mills High School where he continued to pursue his passion for music.

Growing up Ed spent a lot of his time gigging across the county in pubs and clubs as he started to make his name.

It was in 2011, however, that Ed started to hit the big time with the release of his debut album + which hit the top spot in the UK album chart.

The album also produced three top ten singles including “The A Team”, “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” and “Lego House.”

His follow up album x produced his first number one single “Sing” when it was released in 2014.

This was swiftly followed by another number one in the form of “Thinking Out Loud” which came from the same album.

It was his third and most recent album ÷, however, which really highlighted the impact of Ed’s youth in Suffolk.

The first track released from the album, “Castle on the Hill”, documented Ed’s youth growing up in Suffolk.

More specifically it put Framlingham on the musical map as the home of the aforementioned castle.

The music video for the song was filmed in Suffolk at locations including Boyton marshes, Mildenhall Stadium, Felixstowe and of course Framlingham.

÷ also spawned two number one singles “Shape of You” and Perfect.

The latter earned Ed the 2017 Christmas number-one as well as a high profile duet with US megastar Beyoncé .

Since then Ed has performed across the world on a number of sell out dates in some of the biggest cities in the world but still remembers his roots.

An ardent Tractorboy Ed has never forgotten his favourite team and has often been spotted wearing an Ipswich Town shirt on his travels across the world including at one of his gigs at Wembley Stadium.

Earlier this year he returned to Portman Road where he was a special guest at Town’s 4-0 loss at home to Aston Villa.

Ed still lives in Suffolk, owning a house near Framlingham.

He has also been spotted in nearby pubs with his superstar friends including Taylor Swift and Nicole Scherzinger.