It’s definitely not a new phenomenon to see one singer write a song and sell it to another artist. However, if that hit blows up, it leads to the inevitable question: Why didn’t they just keep it for themselves? Ed Sheeran addressed that exact scenario regarding “Love Yourself,” which he wrote and then gave to Justin Bieber, and it turns out the story of how and why that happened is pretty funny.
Ed Sheeran relayed the story of “Love Yourself” while performing a concert May 3 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Florida. laughing as he told the crowd (per Page Six):
This is a song when I was writing Divide, I was writing a lot of songs about a lot of different things, and I wrote this song, and honestly, I played it to people and they went, ‘Meh.’ And then I played it to one person and they said, ‘I would like that song, and I would like to sing it.’ And I went, ‘Cool, have it.’ And then it got very big, and then everyone said to me, ‘Why didn’t you keep it?’ And I was like, ‘Because you told me it wasn’t good.’
The singer then chuckled along with the audience before saying that the good thing about writing a song is that you can always sing it, and then the Hard Rock Live concertgoers were treated to Ed Sheeran’s version of “Love Yourself.”
However it went down, I’m sure Justin Bieber is grateful that Ed Sheeran was happy to unload the song. The “Peaches” artist released it on the 2015 album Purpose, and it became his third straight No. 1 single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. It also rose to the top of the Adult Contemporary chart and was nominated for two Grammys (Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance).
“Love Yourself” ended up being one of multiple collaborations between the two pop stars. In 2019 they famously dueted on “I Don’t Care,” co-starring in its trippy music video. They also both contributed guest vocals to Dave star Lil Dicky’s 2019 song “Earth,” and are credited as co-writers on Major Lazer’s “Cold Water” in 2015, which features vocals from Bieber.
When he’s not playing pranks on Friends star Courteney Cox, Ed Sheeran has spent a lot of time writing music for other artists. To name just a few, he holds writing credits on One Direction’s “18” and “Little Things,” BTS’ “Make It Right,” Rita Ora’s “Your Song,” and Taylor Swift’s “End Game” and “Everything Has Changed,” both of which she performed as a surprise song on the Eras Tour.
It’s a good thing Justin Bieber heard the potential in “Love Yourself” and was able to turn it into a hit. Also, I hope that song was one of few that Ed Sheeran gave away because he didn’t think it was very good. Regardless it seems like the “Shape of You” crooner has a sense of humor about the situation.
If you want to go behind the scenes even further with Ed Sheeran, be sure to check out his docuseries The Sum of It All, which is available to stream with a Disney+ subscription, and you can see everything else that’s new and coming soon to Disney+.