Happy Birthday, Ed Sheeran! 8 Fun Facts About The ‘Thinking Out Loud’ Singer On His 25th Birthday

Ed Sheeran is a quarter of a century old on Wednesday. The singer is celebrating his 25th birthday, so it seems like a good time to learn a little more about him. Check out some fun facts you might not know about the artist:

1. His First Grammys –Sheeran got two early birthday presents at the Grammy Awards. He won Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year for “Thinking Out Loud” Monday night. While he’d been nominated several other times, they were his first Grammy wins.

2. Social Media Hiatus – The Brit has a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but he isn’t using them at the moment. He decided that he needed to ditch his smartphone for a while. “I’ve had such an amazing ride over the last five years but I find myself seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes,” Sheeran wrote on Instagram in December. “So I’m taking this opportunity of me not having to be anywhere or do anything to travel the world and see everything I missed.”

3. Taylor Swift – Sheeran connected with Swift when the blonde superstar asked him to co-write “Everything Has Changed” with her. They later went on tour together, but their friendship goes beyond business. Swift even jumped out of her seat with excitement when Sheeran beat her out for the Song of the Year Grammy.

4. Hometown Connections – He hasn’t given up his childhood friends to hang out with celebs, though. In the fall, Sheeran was even reportedly dating Cherry Seaborn, a friend he went to high school with.

5. His Label – Gingerbread Man Records is Sheeran’s record label, a Warner Bros. imprint. His first artist, Jamie Lawson, signed on because Sheeran was so accepting. “Ed didn’t want me to be any different,” Lawson told Billboard. “Now I get to do what I’ve always done but on a bigger platform.”

6. Acting Career – Sheeran put down the guitar to start acting last year. He played Sir Cormac in “The Bastard Executioner” on FX. The series was canceled, but he quickly booked another acting job in “Bridget Jones’s Baby.”

7. Elton John – The “Your Song” singer owns the company, Rocket Management Entertainment Group, that manages Sheeran, but John is also personally involved with Sheeran’s career. “I just give him advice. I've been around for so long and I know the scene,” John told Rolling Stone in November. “I knew that ‘Sing’ should be the first single, and of course, it worked. He emailed to say, ‘Thank you so much.’ He says thank you. He listens. I'm doing it to make sure his career goes the right way.”

8. Philanthropy – Sheeran is involved with a couple different charitable organizations. In 2012, he played a concert that raised £40,000 for One25, which reaches out to sex workers, BBC reports. He has also supported St. Elizabeth Hospice, the Mirror reports, by donating clothing he wore to the 2015 Grammy Awards.