Ed Sheeran has been touring since 2017 and is reportedly planning on taking an extended break.
According to The Sun, the singer announced Monday during his final tour date in Ipswich, England that it would be his last for awhile.
“There is something very bittersweet about it,” Sheeran was quoted as saying. “I love that you guys are here and we are ending it in Ipswich. This is my last gig for probably 18 months.”
He also noted that he’d played all around the world to massive crowds during the tour.
“Glastonbury, Wembley Stadium. All these amazing venues, America, New Zealand, Australia, Asia, South America — it’s been a wild one,” Sheeran said. “I was told before I came on that now, at the end of this tour, I’ve played to nine million people around the world. It is the biggest tour ever.”
The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Sheeran was on track to make a record-breaking $750 million off the tour, which would put him ahead of the current record set by U2’s 360° Tour in 2011 which raked in $735 million.
Sheeran has been known to drop out of the limelight before. In 2015, he took time off after wrapping his x Tour to spend more time with his then-girlfriend, Cherry Seaborn.
The couple has since married.
And while he has more than earned a break, Sheeran thanked his supporters and told concert goers it wasn’t easy.
“It’s been an emotional day for a lot of people backstage,” he said. “It kind of feels like, in a weird way, that you’re breaking up with a girlfriend that you’ve been with for years. It sounds odd but it has been a long tour.”
