Ed Sheeran recently offered a candid reflection on his prolonged copyright lawsuit during the inaugural performance of his three-show Sydney residency, telling a massive crowd of 70,000 at Accor Stadium that an unexpected aspect of the legal proceedings—being forced to surrender his electronic devices—directly led to the creation of one of his most deeply personal songs.

The British singer-songwriter commenced the Sydney segment of his Loop Tour on a Friday, performing a selection of his chart-topping hits, including “Castle on the Hill,” “Shape of You,” and “Perfect.” Midway through his set, Sheeran paused to address the legal battle that began in 2015. This $100 million copyright lawsuit alleged that his 2014 single “Thinking Out Loud” had illicitly copied elements from Marvin Gaye’s iconic 1973 song “Let’s Get It On.” After an arduous eight-year legal struggle, a New York jury ultimately ruled in 2023 that Sheeran had not, in fact, copied the classic track.

Speaking to the engaged Sydney audience, Sheeran elaborated on the personal toll the case took and the peculiar circumstances it created. He recounted that, as part of the legal discovery process, he was mandated to hand over his electronic devices so that investigators could meticulously review his messages and files. With a touch of humor, he remarked, “All I’ll say is that I’m glad there’s nothing weird on them, you know.”

Sheeran further revealed to his fans that he has not owned a mobile phone since the lawsuit was initially filed. He explained that he deliberately stopped using one during a 2015 Australian tour, rediscovering the device only years later when it was formally requested as evidence in court. He recalled, “I did a tour down here [in Australia] for Multiply in 2015 and I remember at the end of that tour, I switched that phone off and going, ‘I do not want to use a mobile phone again.’ I moved to email and I’ve used email since then.”

Powering on his old phone years later proved to be an profoundly emotional experience for the artist. “I opened it again for this lawsuit and I switched it on to go through the emails and text messages and that sort of stuff and it was like going through a time machine to right back to 2015. But not only back to 2015 but to 2007, when I started texting on this number,” he articulated. He described feeling completely overwhelmed, stating, “It proper like spun me out. I was like frozen in time.” This intensely personal journey through his digital past brought him face-to-face with old conversations with friends who had since passed away and with family members with whom he had lost touch for years.

This deeply affecting experience ultimately served as the inspiration for “Old Phone,” a new track that will feature on his upcoming 2025 album, “Play.” Sheeran then performed this song for the stadium crowd. He shared his perspective on songwriting, noting, “I find whenever anything negative happens in my life, I write a song about it and it somehow makes sense of that bad thing that’s happened. And it also works with something good that happens in my life – I write a song about it.” He further elaborated that “Any song you hear of mine is basically like two-minute extremities. Either I feel a lot of this or I feel a lot of this … I find when the bad days happen, good songs come from it.”

Elsewhere during the concert, Sheeran expressed his deep affection and gratitude for Australian audiences, reminiscing that Australia was among the very first countries outside the United Kingdom to wholeheartedly embrace his music. “This is why I love coming back to Australia. When I first came here when I was like 19 or 20, the crowds have always been nuts,” he affirmed. “No matter the occasion, no matter the day, the crowd has always been nuts.” Later in the show, he effusively declared his love for Australia, stating, “Sydney, it feels amazing to be back. If you haven’t lost your voice tomorrow, I haven’t done my job.” He reiterated the significance of Australia, noting, “Australia was the first place I had a hit outside of the UK … so I am super happy to start the tour here. It means a lot and I hope you know that.” Sheeran is scheduled to perform two additional Sydney dates before continuing his Australian leg in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide.