Grammy-winning singer Burna Boy has revealed that Ed Sheeran helped prepare him for the pressure of performing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final. He recently had his say during an interview with Capital FM, and fans have been reacting.
Describing the “Thinking Out Loud” crooner as one of the most thoughtful people he has ever worked with, Burna Boy revealed that Ed Sheeran gave him an early warning about the demands of performing on football’s biggest stage.
The African giant added that because the British icon is familiar with overwhelming large-scale performances, he tried to make sure he was mentally prepared.
His words, “He’s actually the first one to call me about this because he’s the one that had my number before everyone.
He hit me up about it and said, ‘Yeah, we should do the World Cup song with Shakira,’ and I said, ‘I’d love to work with Shakira, let’s do it.
He had to give me the heads up like, ‘Yo, you’re gonna have to perform at the finals and all of that,’ because he knows me.
He knows how I get down. He knows the stress part is a bit crazy for me, so he gave me a heads-up. He was like, ‘Yo, it’s gonna be real stressful.’
He’s just a very sensible and lovable guy. He’s someone I’ve taken to personally from the beginning. Ed is very smart, man. He always knows what he’s doing.”
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu MFR (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He rose to stardom in 2012 after releasing “Like to Party”, the lead single from his debut studio album L.I.F.E (2013). In 2017, Burna Boy signed with Bad Habit/Atlantic Records in the United States and Warner Music Group internationally. His third studio album Outside (2018) marked his major-label debut.
In 2019, he won Best International Act at the 2019 BET Awards, and was announced as Apple Music Up Next artist that year. His fourth studio album, titled African Giant, was released in July 2019. It won Album of the Year at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards and was nominated for Best World Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.
He was awarded African Artist of the Year at the 2020 Ghana Music Awards. Burna Boy released his fifth studio album, Twice as Tall, in August 2020. It won Best World Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. He won Best International Act at the 2021 BET Awards.
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu was born on 2 July 1991, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. His mother Bose Ogulu worked as a language translator and his father, Samuel, managed a welding company. His maternal grandfather Benson Idonije once managed Fela Kuti.
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