"Thinking Out Loud" is a song 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 ...

recorded for his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator

Jake Gosling Jake Nathan Gosling is an English record producer and songwriter. Best known for his production work for English singer Ed Sheeran, he has also been credited on releases for acts including Lady Gaga, The Libertines, James Bay, Shawn Mendes, A ...

. It was released in the US on 14 August 2014 as the album's third single. In the UK, the song spent 19 weeks within the top 40 before peaking at number one in early November 2014; it became Sheeran's second number-one single there. The single has also reached the top spot in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia and South Africa, and peaked at number two on both the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. It was Sheeran's highest-charting single in North America until "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the lead single, double lead singles from his third studio album ''÷ (album), ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The Dancehall pop, ...

" topped the charts in both countries in 2017. In June 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" became the first single to spend a full year in the UK top 40. In September 2015, it also became the seventh single to have achieved triple platinum certification in the UK during the 21st century. In October 2015, the song became the first to be streamed over 500 million times on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

, is also one of the most streamed songs in the UK and has been viewed more than 3.8 billion times on YouTube as of February 2025. "Thinking Out Loud" received nominations for

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

, Song of the Year and

Best Pop Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guides, the Best Pop S ...

at the 58th Grammy Awards, winning the latter two.

Background and writing

Sheeran wrote "Thinking Out Loud" with Amy Wadge, a

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

-based singer-songwriter. He met Wadge when he was 17 years old and they had since written several songs together. Of these, five songs composed the

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

'' Songs I Wrote with Amy'', which Sheeran independently released on 4 April 2010. Wadge also co-wrote the song "Gold Rush", a track on the deluxe version of Sheeran's debut album, '' +'' (2011). In February 2014, Wadge visited Sheeran at home for a "chilling-out time". Around that time, Sheeran's second studio album, '' ×'', was nearly completed. Wadge revealed that her visit was not supposed to be a songwriting session. While Sheeran was taking a shower, Wadge played a few chords on a guitar. The tune caught the attention of Sheeran and he ran downstairs. Sheeran suggested working with the tune, but only after returning home from dinner, work began. The melody developed from a simple

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

. According to Sheeran, he composed the melody on a guitar in a manner which was "very Van-like", referring to

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

. The Irish musician has been an inspiration to Sheeran since a young age, and Sheeran wanted to capture that vibe when he composed the song. In the kitchen, Sheeran and Wadge began writing the song at 2:00am on 4 February 2014, and completed it in 20 minutes. According to Wadge, the lyrical content resulted from her and Sheeran's talking about "everlasting love", inspired by the circumstances relevant at that time. Sheeran also revealed that the lyrics were inspired by his then-girlfriend, Athina Andrelos, whom Sheeran met in early 2014. Sheeran would later explain that he wrote the song "in a relationship at a really, really happy point". Sheeran revealed that he also had his grandparents in mind and maintaining love in old age ("'til we're 70" in the lyrics), and the early version of the chorus was "I'm singing out now" before it became "I'm thinking out loud". Immediately after writing, Sheeran recorded the song on his phone. He was keen to include "Thinking Out Loud" on the second album. He properly recorded the song the following day at the Sticky Studios, a recording facility located in the small

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

village of

Windlesham Windlesham is a geographically-large village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately south west of central London. Its name derives from the Windle Brook, which runs south of the village into Chobham, and the common suffi ...

, and informed Wadge of its inclusion on the album. It became the last song recorded for the album. For "Thinking Out Loud", Sheeran sought the assistance of

, who produced much of his debut album and had earlier contributed tracks, four of which appear on the standard version of the second album.

Composition

"Thinking Out Loud" is a romantic

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

with blue-eyed soul influences. Sheeran referred to it as a "walking down the aisle song". In the lyrics, Sheeran reflects on "getting older and fidelity and love in a fairly conventional context", according to Eric Clarke, professor of music at

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. The song was composed in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 79 beats per minute. Sheeran's vocals range from B₂ to A₄. In the mix, Sheeran's voice is "unusually" loud over the instruments, which, for Mike Senior of the music technology magazine, ''

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is a monthly music technology magazine. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals. Due to its technical focus, it is predominantly ...

'', is "surprisingly rare" in contemporary records. Senior analysed the vocal elements in which he found that, in spite of several notes sung off pitch, "the overall framework of the vocal remains fundamentally in tune". Journalists noted similarities between "Thinking Out Loud" and " Let's Get It On", a 1973 single by soul musician

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

. Andrew Unterberger of '' Spin'' wrote that "the gently loping four-note bass pattern and crisp '70s soul drums absolutely smack of the Gaye classic, as do the embrace-insistent lyrics and general candlelit-bedroom feel". Jason Lipshutz of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' called it a "sleek update" of the classic.

Release

Prior to the album release, Sheeran debuted "Thinking Out Loud" on 24 May 2014 by performing it live on the British music television show, '' Later... with Jools Holland''. The debut followed the release of the video accompaniment to "

Sing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

", the album's lead single. "Thinking Out Loud" was immediately perceived as having contrast to "Sing", which is a "high-energy funk/R&B-infused song". "Thinking Out Loud" became available on 18 June 2014 as an "instant grat"

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

for consumers who pre-ordered ''×'' on the iTunes Store. It served as a promotional single from ''×'', which was released two days later. On the standard version of the album, "Thinking Out Loud" is the next-to-last track, the last being " Afire Love". "Thinking Out Loud" was initially serviced to Australian radio on 14 August 2014 and later released on 24 September 2014. It served as the third of five singles released from the album; it followed the songs, "Sing" and "Don't", the first and second single respectively. According to Sheeran, no one from his record label wanted to release "Thinking Out Loud" as a single, favouring over "

Photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

" as the "big song". "Photograph" was supposed to be the main single, but when "Thinking Out Loud" spent several weeks within the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart albeit not receiving

rotation Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...

, the latter song was kept as the third single. "Photograph" was later released as the fifth and final single. "Thinking Out Loud" was issued on

7" vinyl In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

exclusively as part of the Black Friday

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

, which was celebrated on 28 November 2014. The vinyl record included, as a B-side, the live version of "I'm A Mess" which Sheeran performed at the Lightship 95 studio. On 26 December 2015, Sheeran released an

Irish-language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenou ...

version of "Thinking Out Loud" for the Irish album ''CEOL 2016''.

Critical reception

Lauren Murphy of ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' noted that the "injection of blue-eyed soul" on the song is "enjoyable", and that it "makes Sheeran's aptitude for melody difficult to dismiss". Jim Beviglia of the ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' thought that although "tidy", "Thinking Out Loud" comes "toothless" compared with the "daring confessionals" Sheeran made on the other songs. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' writer, Allison Stewart, has hailed the song as "a blatant and mercilessly effective bid for ' I'll Be'-style wedding-song immortality". ''

'' magazine's Jason Lipshutz, commented that Sheeran "pushes this bold stab at romance past its sappiest moments, and ends the album on a likable note". Jamieson Cox of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' wrote that "the album's greatest moment by a country mile is relegated to its penultimate slot", referring to "Thinking Out Loud".

Chart performance

"Thinking Out Loud" topped several charts in Europe, Oceania and South Africa, and reached the top ten in several other countries in North America (see Weekly charts below). Upon the album's release, the single debuted at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. On 2 November 2014, "Thinking Out Loud" topped the UK Singles Chart in its 19th week in the Top 40, becoming Sheeran's second UK number one and breaking the record for the longest ascent to number one. In the week ending 27 June 2015, it had spent a record consecutive 52 weeks (or a full year) inside the top 40. Around the same time, the single had accumulated 1.65 million combined sales and streams; it became one of the 161 million-selling singles and the 26th best-selling of the 2010s in the UK. On 18 September 2015, the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

certified the single triple platinum for combined sales (including streaming points) of 1,800,000 units. As of September 2017, the song has sold 1,219,000 copies with 130 million streams, making a total of 2,521,000 units sold in the United Kingdom. In February 2025, its certification was upgraded to octuple platinum, denoting sales and streams of over 4,800,000. In the US, "Thinking Out Loud" peaked at number two on the all-encompassing chart ''Billboard'' Hot 100; the single became Sheeran's highest-charting single until the release of "

" in 2017. It remained the runner-up spot for eight consecutive weeks, a chart feat last held in 2004. "Thinking Out Loud" was kept off the top spot by " Uptown Funk", although it outperformed the latter song for a week in February 2015 on the ''Billboard'' Digital Songs. On other specific US charts, "Thinking Out Loud" reached number one on the ''Billboard''

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

for the week ending 21 February 2015, marking Sheeran's first. For the week ending 21 March 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" held the top position on the ''Billboard''

Pop Songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the U ...

, Adult Pop Songs, and

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

charts, becoming the fourth song in history to lead all three adult charts simultaneously. In celebration of Google Play's fifth anniversary, Google announced "Thinking Out Loud" as the top-selling song on the platform. "Thinking Out Loud" is Sheeran's best-selling song in the United States, with 5,622,000 copies sold as of September 2017.

On streaming services

In the UK, Sheeran's native country, "Thinking Out Loud" claimed the record for the most streams in a single week in December 2014. The track accumulated over 1,638,000 streams, and subsequently achieved a personal best of 1,850,000 streams in the week ending 21 December 2014. This record has since been broken by several songs. In April 2015, the song ranked as the most popular based on the 2.8 million sleep-themed playlists created by Spotify users. Sleep is one of the company's most popular categories that, according to Spotify, "people also use for general relaxation and to help themselves unwind". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' columnist Tim Dowling suggested that the report indicated "very popular, slightly mellow songs that keep cropping up on sleep playlists" but not a list of a "carefully curated journey to unconsciousness". In October 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" set the record of most

streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large stream ...

of a song on

, having accumulated over 500 million streams. The company created the "Sheerio Index", an interactive graphic map which showed where Sheeran was most popular. The colour-based map indicated that Sheeran was most popular in Denmark. It was surpassed a month later by " Lean On", a song by

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music and DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. They were founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after three years in 2011. He was the ...

and DJ Snake featuring MØ.

Music video

Emil Nava directed the video accompaniment to the single. Most of it was filmed in the Crystal Ballroom at the

Millennium Biltmore Hotel The Biltmore Los Angeles is a historic hotel opened in 1923 and located opposite Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The hotel has of meeting and banquet space. Built with 1500 guestrooms, it now has 683. History The Los Ange ...

in Los Angeles, California. The video was shot continuously using a

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

camera. Unlike Sheeran's earlier videos, where he assumed a low profile, he took the lead role on "Thinking Out Loud". In the video, Sheeran executes a

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of Concert dance, dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly stron ...

with Brittany Cherry, a contestant from the televised American dance competition, ''So You Think You Can Dance''. The routine was choreographed by Nappytabs and with training help from Paul Karmiryan. While on concert tour, Sheeran spent five hours a day for three weeks to practice with Cherry. The video was released on 7 October 2014. After the first 24 hours, the video had over 2.7 million views on video-sharing website,

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. As of October 2022, it has 3.5 billion views, making it the 17th most viewed video on the site. The music video received four nominations at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year and Best Male Video.

Live performances

On 26 October 2014, Sheeran performed the song on third live results show of series 11 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 ...

''. He also performed it on 9 November 2014 in the

2014 MTV Europe Music Awards The 2014 MTV EMAs (also known as the MTV Europe Music Awards) were held at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland on 9 November 2014. This was the first time since 2003 when the awards were held in Scotland and the fifth time the United Kingdom has ...

. Sheeran also performed the song as a special guest at '' The Voice''s live finale on 16 December 2014. Furthermore, Sheeran performed the track on the Christmas Special of '' The Jonathan Ross Show'' on 20 December 2014. He also performed the song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards on 8 February 2015 along with

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

Questlove Ahmir K. Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American drummer, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thought ...

, Adam Blackstone, and

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

. Sheeran performed "Thinking Out Loud" on 13 April 2015 results show of the second series of ''

'' in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Sheeran also performed the song at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014. On 15 August 2024, Sheeran and

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

performed "Thinking Out Loud" at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in London as part of a mashup with their collaborations " Everything Has Changed" and " End Game" for Swift's Eras Tour (2023–2024).

Parodies and usage in media

On 28 April 2015 episode of ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

'', actor Jeremy Renner, known for his role as Hawkeye in the '' Avengers'' movies, performed on piano and sang a song captioned by Fallon's show on

as "Hawkeye Sings About His Super Powers". While not parodying Sheeran's lyrics, it is sung to the same tune. The lyrics suggest that Hawkeye feels defensive compared with the other Avengers as he was the only mortally human one in a team of superhuman or enhanced heroes: "But listen, I've got powers too; they're pretty sweet. / I promise I can do so much more than just archery ... / I can open a pickle jar. / I'm friggin' Hawkeye. / Maybe I'm as super as they are." The song and video were also parodied in the CW series '' Crazy Ex-Girlfriend''. Titled "Let's Have Intercourse", the song was sung by Scott Michael Foster with

Rachel Bloom Rachel Leah Bloom (born April 3, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, singer, writer, and producer. She is best known for co-creating and starring as Rebecca Bunch in The CW musical comedy-drama series ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' (2015– ...

appearing in the scene dancing with Foster in the same manner as Sheeran and Cherry. The lyrics are an appeal by Foster's character, Nathaniel Plimpton III, to series protagonist Rebecca Bunch (Bloom) to have sex whilst trapped in an elevator.

Plagiarism allegations

On 10 August 2016, it was announced that the family of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On", was suing Sheeran, alleging that "the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of 'Thinking' are substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition of 'Let's et It On." The case was dismissed without prejudice in February 2017. Two years later, on 28 June 2018, Ed Sheeran was again sued on similar grounds, this time for $100 million in damages by Structured Asset Sales, owners of one-third of the copyright to "Let's Get It On". The case was heard by a jury in New York City in 2023, which found in favor of Sheeran. Sheeran's defence rests on the argument that, while the two songs have similar "building blocks" and a specific chord progression in particular, such features are true for many pop songs. After winning the trial, Sheeran said: "These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before 'Let’s Get It On' was written and will be used to create music long after we are all gone." In June 2025, the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

refused to hear an appeal from Structured Asset Sales ending the legal dispute.

Formats and track listings

*7" vinyl #"Thinking Out Loud" #" I'm a Mess" *CD single #"Thinking Out Loud" #"I'm a Mess" *Digital download #"Thinking Out Loud" – 3:02 *EP #"Thinking Out Loud" #" Don't" #"

" #"Thinking Out Loud" #"Don't" #"Sing"

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes:

, (2014). X. lbum liner notes and credits Asylum Records/Atlantic Records. *Ed Sheeran – vocals, writer, acoustic guitar * Chris Leonard – electric guitar, hammond organ, bass *Peter Gosling – piano *Jake Gosling – producer, keyboards, programming, drums, percussion * Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing *Stuart Hawkes – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Cover versions

Chad Brownlee cover

Canadian

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer

Chad Brownlee Chad Brownlee (born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian country music artist, songwriter, actor, and former ice hockey defenceman. He has one #1 Canada Country hit with " Forever's Gotta Start Somewhere". Sports career Brownlee was a draft pick for ...

recorded a cover version and released it as a single in 2015. He also released a video of himself performing the song.

Chart performance

Clay Walker cover

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Clay Walker Ernest Clayton Walker Jr. (born August 19, 1969) is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single " What's It to You", which reached Number One on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Son ...

released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "Thinking Out Loud" on Walker's first album in nine years, titled '' Long Live the Cowboy'' released on January 21, 2019.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles 2015 singles 2010s ballads Ed Sheeran songs Chad Brownlee songs Song recordings produced by Jake Gosling Songs written by Ed Sheeran Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles UK singles chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Scotland South African Airplay Chart number-one singles Soul ballads Grammy Award for Song of the Year Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Amy Wadge Blue-eyed soul songs Asylum Records singles Atlantic Records singles British soft rock songs MDM Recordings singles

Background and writing

Composition

Release

Critical reception

Chart performance

On streaming services

Music video

Live performances

Parodies and usage in media

Plagiarism allegations

Formats and track listings

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Cover versions

Chad Brownlee cover

Chart performance

Clay Walker cover

See also

References

External links