Ed Sheeran breaks down in tears in first trailer of new documentary

21 March 2023, 11:10 | Updated: 21 March 2023, 13:16

Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All official trailer

By Alice Dear

Ed Sheeran opens up about his wife's tumour and the death of his best friend Jamal Edwards in the documentary titled Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All.

Ed Sheeran, 32, can be see breaking down in tears in a first look of his new documentary Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All.

The Shape Of You, Perfect and Celestial hitmaker will star in a Disney+ documentary all about his rise to fame as well as dealing with personal heartbreak.

In the trailer of the documentary, Ed can be seen and heard opening up about the grief caused by the death of his best friend, Jamal Edwards, as well as his wife's tumour diagnosis.

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Ed can be seen in one moment starting to break down in tears while sat in the back of a car, with his wife, Cherry Seaborn, later explaining: "He hasn't had the time to process and be at peace with his thoughts."

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Ed Sheeran breaks down in tears in the first trailer of his Disney+ documentary. Picture: Disney+

The singer and songwriter can also be heard saying: "It just took over my life".

Ed previously opened up about his wife Cherry's tumour diagnosis earlier this year when he announced the release of his new album Subtract.

In an emotional Instagram post, he revealed that Cherry had been diagnosed with a tumour while she was pregnant with their second baby.

Ed – who has two daughters with his wife; Lyra and Jupiter – said that at the time there was "no route to treatment until after the birth."

In the same post, he also reflected on the death of Jamal, who passed away on 20th February 2022, saying that the grief left him "spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety".

Ed Sheeran's wife, Cherry Seaborn, can be seen pregnant with their second baby in the documentary trailer. Picture: Disney+

The full post reads: "I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.

Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.

Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly, and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.

As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time, I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.

This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract."