"Bloodstream" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

from his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was written by Sheeran,

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and ...

, and

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...

members Johnny McDaid and Gary Lightbody, and produced by

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

. The song was released as an "instant grat" digital download to the iTunes Store on 17 June 2014, serving as the fourth of seven promotional singles from ''×''. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 81 and rose to number 60. In December 2014, "Bloodstream" was remixed by Rudimental. This version of the song was released on 29 March 2015 as a joint single between Sheeran and Rudimental, serving as the fourth single from ''×'' and the lead single from Rudimental's second studio album, '' We the Generation'' (2015). This remix peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

"Bloodstream" was written by Sheeran,

, and

members – Johnny McDaid and Gary Lightbody, and produced by

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet's Kunlun Mountains, Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by the British author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently ...

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

. The song is about Sheeran taking

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...

during a wedding celebration in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

. He claims that during the experience he "fell in love with a beanbag" and that " efelt anxiety, efelt love, efelt warm, efelt a bit weird". Sheeran made a

live PA Live PA (meaning live public address or live personal appearance) is the act of performing live electronic music in settings typically associated with DJing, such as nightclubs, raves, and more recently dance music festivals. In a performativ ...

to perform the song during Rudimental's set at

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

on 27 June 2014.

Charts

Certifications

Ed Sheeran and Rudimental version

At the BBC Music Awards on 11 December 2014, it was revealed by Sheeran that a remixed version of "Bloodstream" would serve as the fourth single from ''×''. He told ''

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

'', "I've done a song with Rudimental that is actually a song on my album. We've just re-done it and it's heavy, it's going to be great. They've re-done it, it's going to be sort of their first single off their new record...It's really good."

Background

In an interview with ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'', regarding the collaboration, Rudimental's DJ Locksmith said, "We were working in LA and heeranrocked up to our studio with The Game and Ellie Goulding. We made four tracks and revisited one this year to give it a Rudimental spin. We've known Ed for years. I remember when we first saw him getting noticed by everyone, he gave us one of his tracks to remix and he said it was one of the best remixes he'd ever had. We'd never recorded with him before, but we kept the connection and he's a massive name now. The song is so sick, so insane. We can't wait to show it to people." The reworked song's audio was uploaded on 11 February and the song was released on 29 March.

Music video

A music video featuring actor

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He first gained attention for his role in the film '' Something Wild'' (1986), which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. He was best known for his portray ...

was released on 23 March 2015. The video is directed by

Emil Nava Emil William Capper Nava (born 29 March 1985) is a British music video director. After leaving school at 16, Emil started his career as a chef. He shot to fame after directing Jessie J's song " Do It Like A Dude". He has since directed over 1 ...

Live performances

Sheeran performed "Bloodstream" on 13 April 2015 on the results show of the second series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' in New Zealand.

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles 2015 singles Ed Sheeran songs Rudimental songs Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs written by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Gary Lightbody Songs written by Johnny McDaid Songs about drugs