Time for a break! After traveling the world on a 16-month, 179-date world tour and helping several celebrity friends get engaged on stage, Ed Sheeran thinks it's time for him to take a break from social media.
The 24-year-old British singer - who just wrapped up his "x" tour in Auckland, New Zealand - took to Instagram and Twitter to announce that he is "taking a break" from social media and taking the opportunity to travel the world and "see everything" he missed while working hard over the past five years.
"Hello all. I am taking a break from my phone, emails, and all social media for a while," he wrote in a post. "I've had such an amazing ride over the last 5 years but I find myself seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes, so I'm taking this opportunity of me not having to be anywhere or do anything to travel the world and see everything I missed."
To help fans deal with the disappointing news, the "Thinking Out Loud" singer told his 16.1 million Twitter followers and 5.5 million Instagram followers that he will come back with a new album, which he promised will be better than his past two albums, 2014's "x" (mulitply) and 2011's "+" (plus).
"To my family and friends, if you love me you will understand me buggering off for a bit, to my fans, the 3rd album is on its way and is the best thing I have made thus far. See you all next autumn, and thank you for being amazing," he continued.
Sheeran hinted at a break last week when he tweeted, "One more show on the Multiply tour then I'm buggering off for a while." In addition to his traveling plans, Sheeran will be undergoing a very painful surgery early in the New Year to repair a damaged eardrum, as previously reported by HNGN. He reportedly suffered the injury earlier this year after jumping off a boat while on vacation in Spain.
"I have to have an operation in January on my ear because I stupidly jumped off a yacht really high up and smashed it," he told Australia's Nova radio, according to Entertainment Tonight. "I landed wrong and it burst my eardrum so I have to go and get a graft, which means I'm not allowed to fly for a while, so it's kind of good, it means I have to stay at home."
Some happy news: Sheeran was named Facebook's most talked-about entertainer of 2015, even beating out his best pal and active social media user Taylor Swift. Sheeran has been nominated for several Grammys, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
