Ed Sheeran posted pictures of 4 of his favorite special guests in the Mathematics tour (2023), through his verified official X “Ed Sheeran HQ” which has 17 million followers, with a few days left until the continuation of the “+–=÷× Tour.” In the slides was Eminem, considered the greatest rapper to walk the earth, who sang “River” with Ed Sheeran in 2017.
Shawn Mendes, the second guest featured in the slide, and the one who sang, “Nothing is Holding Me Back,” with Ed Sheeran back in 2016, and John Mayer, the 3rd guest in the slide, and who also sang “Free Fallin” with Ed Sheeran back in 2023, and lastly, Khalid, who sang “Beautiful People” with Ed Sheeran back in 2019.
Recall that the “Mathematics Tour” started on the 23rd of April, 2022 making this year, the 3rd consecutive year that the tour is on. Ed has managed to entertain millions of fans more than he did in his previous tours, and he has taken time to appreciate his opening acts, and now special guests that made the tour amazing with their appearances.
A lot of Ed’s fans have gone on X formerly known as Twitter, to react to his post about his favorite special guests. While most of them agreed with his selection, some of his fans felt he left out one important member of the “Favorite Guests” group, and that is, “Brandon Flowers,” who sang “Mr. Brighside” with Ed Sheeran from “The Killers” vault during the “Mathematics Tour” concert in Las Vegas.
Altogether, emotional reactions trail each picture as people who saw each tagged artist perform came to testify to the amazing experience they had last year. The 2024 leg of the “Mathematics Tour” will begin on the 15th of January. So if you need tickets to the concerts, don’t forget, there’s a standby tickets selling platform where you can easily get Ed Sheeran 2024 tour tickets.
Eminem
The first slide captured Ed Sheeran and Eminem. Eminem had on a black hoodie, as expected, looking like the “king of rap” that he is, while Ed was standing there with his guitar slung behind him, with a smile on his face, expressing that he was enjoying the moment.
Going back into 2023, no one expected Eminem to participate in Ed’s concert. Even though the two go along, and have recorded many songs together, even performed them onstage a couple of times. But the list of guests initially presented for the “Mathematics Tour” did not carry Eminem’s name on it so, it’s safe to say the rapper was the least expected celebrity to appear on stage.
Surely, whoever had that assumption got their doubts cleared when Ed Sheeran brought out Eminem for “Lose Yourself,” and “Stan” performances in Detroit, in 2023.
The moment was captured and posted on Ed’s official YouTube channel. One YouTuber, @gsutton219, commented, “Em was just chilling at home like ‘yeah I ain’t doing nothing tonight I’ll come perform.’”
The appearance was unique and like, planned or even rehearsed a couple of times before that night. Ed began singing “Lose Yourself” like he was going to sing it all by himself, but the magic happened when the song reached Eminem’s verse and he suddenly walked onto the stage. The posted video also captured the reaction of the crowd when Eminem popped up. It’s a moment worthy of reminiscing.
Khalid
Khalid is greatly recognized as an emotional singer. Most of his songs like “Young Dumb,” and “Therapy,” have become hits because people seem to pick interest in them, eventually. Especially after enjoying the rhythm first, and then understanding the lyrics later on.
Unlike Eminem, Khalid has been appearing on stage as an opening act for Ed Sheeran during the “Mathematics Tour.” Some of the cities he opened for Ed were; Arlington, Tampa, and Houston alongside 4 other cities in the US.
Khalid also opened for Ed later on in June, while in Canada, and then more US dates in July and August. The two musicians performed, “Beautiful People,” which was released in 2019.
“Beautiful People” earned its right in the set list of the “Mathematics Tour” because, after its release, it topped so many charts, and became 3X certified platinum after selling more than 1.8 million units in the United Kingdom. It also sold more than 1 million units in the United States, making it certified platinum.
Even though everyone knew that Khalid was on the show as an opening act, the crowd couldn’t control their emotions when he emerged from underneath the stage to Ed Sheeran in performing their song, back in Ford Field, Detroit, on the 15th of July 2023.
John Mayer
John Mayer also made the list of opening acts in the “Mathematics Tour.” Although he wasn’t planned at first, he was later used to replace Khalid for 2 nights in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The two musicians performed “Thinking Out Loud,” one of Ed Sheeran’s hit songs that was released way back in 2014. Just like “Beautiful People,” “Thinking Out Loud” earned its right to be on the set list of the “Mathematics Tour.” The song, after it was released, topped the charts in countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK.
“Thinking Out Loud” was also streamed more than 30 million times in Japan, and is currently 16X Platinum certified in the US after selling more than 16 million units there, and more than 4 million units in the UK where it is 7X Platinum certified.
Ed Sheeran and John Mayer have recorded a lot of songs together. One of which is “Free Fallin,” which they performed on stage during “John’s Charity Concert” in September, last year. This marks the 2nd time the two have met onstage in 1 year.
The caption of the YouTube video that captured the moment Ed ed John on stage was, “John Mayer and Ed Sheeran Reunite on Stage with ‘Free Fallin” Duet.”
Shawn Mendes
Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes performed “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back,” at the “Mathematics Tour” concert in June 2023. The performance left the crowd going crazy, with some describing it as a spectacular show.
Ed’s fans who were present that night later commented that they had never seen Ed in such high spirits. One YouTuber, @happiness6177 said, “O…M…G..!! I just saw the full 2 songs, Ed & Shawn were having a ball. I’ve never seen Ed jumping around so much, HE was going CRAZY… Maybe he’s practicing for the next phase of music ‘Heavy Metal “” Loved it’.”
Another YouTuber, @CelesteAdores said, “Quite often Ed’s filmed performances have had camera views filmed from behind the artist. Keeping that in mind, 10 years on, this is what the British call “Fit”. A little leg shaking…”
During the performance of “Lego House,” Ed sang a bit and then paused to invite Shawn Mendes to the stage specially. The reaction from the crowd after Ed mentioned Shawn’s name was marvelous.
The 2 musicians couldn’t sing for a second, waiting for the crowd to quiet down, but they never did. We see a lot of reasons why Ed Sheeran tagged Shawn as his favorite special guest. Only a few artists who are loved can move the crowd the way Shawn did when he was invited to the stage by Ed Sheeran.
