<P> Sheeran's earliest memories include listening to the records of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Elton John's Greatest Hits . According to Sheeran, the album that introduced him to music was Van Morrison's Irish Heartbeat . During his childhood his father took him to live concerts that would inspire his musical creations . These included seeing Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall, Paul McCartney in Birmingham, and Bob Dylan . On the influence of Clapton, Sheeran states, "He's the reason I started playing guitar". He singled out Clapton's performance at the Party at the Palace in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, "I was eleven when I saw Eric Clapton play at the Queen's Golden Jubilee concert in June 2002 . I remember him walking on stage with this rainbow - coloured Stratocaster and playing the first riff of "Layla". I was hooked . Two days later I bought a black Stratocaster copy for £ 30 that came with an amp . All I did for the next month was try to play that Layla riff ." </P> <P> He has also cited The Beatles, Nizlopi and Eminem as his biggest musical influences . According to Sheeran, he had a stutter in his speech when he was younger, and he credited rapping along to Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP for helping him get rid of it . He was also inspired by "Cannonball" singer - songwriter Damien Rice in 2002, with Sheeran stating, "seeing him play this small club in Ireland, I was able to meet him, and he was unbelievably cool . I went straight home and started writing songs . I would not be doing what I'm doing now if he'd been a jerk ." Sheeran collaborated with his idol Eric Clapton in April 2016, with Sheeran stating to People magazine, "I sang on Eric Clapton's album (I Still Do). It's one thing having him on mine, but being his, that's an honour that you can't ever pinpoint on how great that is . I did something for his record, and I was credited as' Angelo Mysterioso,' (appearing as a guest on Clapton's "I Will Be There", in addition to performing the song with Clapton on stage), and he did something for my record (performing a guitar solo on "Dive" on Sheeran's album ÷) and was credited as' Angelo Mysterioso ."' </P> <P> In March 2015, Sheeran revealed he was setting up a record label, Gingerbread Man Records, which is a deal with Warner Music Group . The label was launched in August 2015 alongside its accompanying YouTube channel . Jamie Lawson, the label's first signee, met Sheeran while they were both in London's folk circuit . Lawson released his self - titled debut album on 9 October 2015, which has earned him a number one in the UK Albums Chart . Sheeran signed his second artist, Foy Vance, in November 2015 . </P> <P> Sheeran performed a gig in Bristol, which raised £ 40,000 for a charity that reaches out to street sex workers . "It's good to show insight that these people are real people with real emotions and they deserve the same charity work as anyone else," Sheeran said . "There's a lot more popular charities that get a lot of attention . And with certain subjects like this they're often washed over and people don't necessarily give them the attention they deserve ." Tickets were available to those taking part in the charity's Give it up for One25 campaign by giving something up for 125 hours and hitting the £ 40,000 fundraising mark . </P>

Who is signed to ed sheerans record label