Even the rich and famous struggle with death. And for one singer, his brushes with mortality have given him a new outlook on the afterlife. It also has led him to creating a $5.5 million private chapel in his backyard, alongside a crypt just waiting for his inevitable death one day. “(But) I wouldn’t say it’s a crypt,” Ed Sheeran said.
“It’s a hole that’s dug in the ground with a bit of stone over it, so whenever the day comes and I pass away, I get to go in there.” The 32-year-old singer, known for hits like “Thinking Out Loud” and “Bad Habits”, has had some explaining to do after he recently revealed his unique addition to his home in England. Sheeran said that he thought of having a place for his daughters, Lyra, 3, and Jupiter, 1, to visit him after he dies one day. He wants people to know, though, that there are actual reasons for his choice.
Ed Sheeran and his wife, Cherry Seaborn. Photo by Getty
People think it’s really weird and really morbid, but I’ve had friends die without wills, and no one knows what to do,” he said.
The chapel, Sheeran said, was constructed after his wife, Cherry Seaborn, was diagnosed with a tumor in 2022. After her diagnosis, the pair lost Sheeran’s best friend, Jamal Edwards, to a drug overdose. The chapel is used to mourn his late loved ones, he said. Sheeran has been open about his struggles with mental health issues, and how the tragedies in his life had taken its toll.
“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,” he said.
Multiple tragedies struck at once for the singer and his wife. “Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumor, with no route to treatment until after the birth,” he said. “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 spiraling through fear, depression and anxiety,” he said, talking about a plagiarism lawsuit that involved his song “Shape of You.” The singer would later go on to win the case.
I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.”
The chapel on Sheeran’s property. Photo by Splash News
“Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be (for this new album), 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,” he said. And it’s not all morbid, he said, with the chapel and grave on his property. The couple also uses it to celebrate the beginning of things, as well: they have let friends marry on the property. To hear Sheeran talk about his struggles and the grave he has set up, watch below.
