There are a few things Ed Sheeran can't live without. From his security guard, Kev, to his signature hot sauce, Tingly Ted's, here are the singer-songwriter's essentials.The Ed Sheeran x John Mayer x Hodinkee G-Shock goes on sale October 18th at 8 a.m. EST. https://shop.hodinkee.com/products/g-shock-ref-6900-subtract-by-ed-sheeran-for-hodinkeeDirector: Robby MillerDirector of Photography: Francis BernalEditor: Marcus NeihausCreative Producer: Arielle NeblettLine Producer: Jen SantosProduction Manager: James PipitoneProduction Coordinator: Tania JonesTalent Booker: Dana Mathews, Ernesto MaciasCamera Operator: Bradley WickhamAudio Engineer: Lily Van LeeuwenProduction Assistant: Ashley VidalGroomer: Kumi CraigPost Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch; Rachael KnightPost Production Coordinator: Ian BryantSupervising Editor: Rob LombardiAssistant Editor: Billy Ward
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 One of my everyday essentials is my security guard, Kevin.
00:03 Come say hi to the people.
00:05 Doesn't he look happy?
00:07 Hi GQ, I'm Ed Sheeran and these are my essentials.
00:09 Kevin has spent pretty much every day of my life with me
00:21 since 2015.
00:22 He was there on the birth of both of my children.
00:24 He was on my honeymoon.
00:26 Yeah, we're best friends.
00:27 And, you know, it's a deterrent.
00:30 People see him and they go, OK, maybe I won't rob Ed.
00:33 What's the craziest story that comes to mind
00:35 out of the last eight years?
00:38 None that I can say on here.
00:40 It's the strong, silent type.
00:42 I've never seen Kevin in an altercation.
00:44 And I think that's what makes Kevin a good security guard.
00:47 He gets me out of the danger before it's even
00:49 presented itself.
00:50 He's not the only one as well.
00:51 He's got a few mates.
00:55 Eh?
00:55 A few of us.
00:56 I don't know.
00:57 So this is another essential.
01:01 This is Tingly Ted's hot sauce.
01:03 I did a TV commercial for Heinz Ketchup
01:06 because I like Heinz.
01:07 And I got in contact with them and said,
01:08 I've got a commercial idea for you
01:10 if you want to do it together.
01:11 And then they asked, should we do another commercial
01:14 for Heinz Ketchup?
01:15 And I said, I'd actually want to create my own sauce.
01:17 I had this idea for Tingly Ted a while ago.
01:19 I find some hot sauce a bit too runny and watery,
01:23 not fit for purpose.
01:24 So I wanted to create something that was totally
01:26 fit for the purpose.
01:28 I use hot sauce on everything.
01:30 I'm a spice addict.
01:31 But I wanted something with the taste that I like
01:34 and a consistency and something you can cook with as well.
01:36 So this, I mean, I go through bottles and bottles
01:38 and bottles of this every single week.
01:40 I'd have it on breakfast, lunch, burgers, nuggets.
01:42 I'd cook fajitas with it, cook pasta, cook curries.
01:44 There's two flavors out at the moment,
01:46 but we're bringing out a--
01:47 I like to call it the hoop hurter.
01:49 And that will be coming out very soon.
01:51 And anyone that really, really likes their ring
01:53 stinged, then you know.
01:57 Next essential is Apple TV.
02:00 I travel a lot.
02:01 And I find myself sat in a hotel room on my own a lot.
02:04 And this has all the streaming platforms on.
02:08 And I can basically, wherever I am in the world,
02:10 if I've got like an hour to kill,
02:13 I can go on and choose a TV show, choose a movie,
02:15 and watch that.
02:16 I mean, this comes with me everywhere.
02:17 I put it in my dressing room.
02:18 I put it in my hotel room.
02:20 I have it at home.
02:20 It's, yeah, a very useful bit of kit.
02:23 Being on "Game of Thrones" was--
02:25 it was cool.
02:26 It was cool.
02:26 It was very cold.
02:27 And they gave me thermal everything.
02:29 And I was like, ah, it's Northern Ireland.
02:31 It's not going to be that cold.
02:32 And it was like I really regretted the decision
02:34 not wearing thermals.
02:35 The reaction to me being on "Game of Thrones"
02:37 was obviously not as glowing and positive
02:40 as how I felt about it.
02:42 But what I would say to people is,
02:43 if someone asked you to be on your favorite show,
02:45 you'd say yes too.
02:46 So one of my essentials on the road
02:50 is having a watch like this, which is a--
02:53 it's just a regular G-Shock.
02:54 This is-- I did a subtract edition.
02:56 I love collecting watches.
02:57 But I think having a watch that you can wear anywhere
03:00 and everywhere, and you can swim with this,
03:01 you can run with this, you could go to a club with this,
03:04 you can--
03:04 I wouldn't have to have a security guard.
03:07 And I always have this in my bag to wear at all times.
03:10 I love it.
03:10 So this watch was made for me for the mathematics tour.
03:14 And it's a one of one, all the mathematics colors
03:17 and symbols on.
03:18 It's basically a stage watch for me.
03:20 Every weekend for the stadium shows.
03:22 But I basically bring both of these on the road.
03:25 This would be the everyday wear, and this
03:26 would be the stage watch.
03:27 Another one of my essentials would be VO5 hair wax.
03:33 This is texturizing gum.
03:35 I've used this-- not this particular one,
03:37 although this is about 11 years old.
03:39 This is-- it's empty.
03:41 Yeah, I've used this probably since I was about 13.
03:44 I'd name dropped VO5 in my song, "You Need Me, I Don't Need You."
03:47 And they sent me a lifetime supply that say Ed Sheeran's
03:51 texturizing gum.
03:51 And when they said lifetime supply,
03:53 I've still got a lot of the supply.
03:55 And I'm barely halfway through it.
03:57 So it is definitely a lifetime supply.
03:59 Yeah, I've only ever used this on my hair.
04:01 And yeah, I've run out, which is why I'm wearing a hat today.
04:05 But yeah, I don't know.
04:06 Gel, not for me.
04:07 Matte clay, not for me.
04:09 Hairspray, not for me.
04:10 It's all about the texturizing gum.
04:11 But then I don't know if anyone's
04:12 going to watch this video and go,
04:14 oh, I'd love to have hair that looks like Ed's.
04:16 But if you do--
04:16 [INAUDIBLE]
04:17 [LAUGHS]
04:18 [INAUDIBLE]
04:21 So this is another one of my essentials.
04:24 This is Paco Rabanne Million, just a spray.
04:27 This is the same as the texturizing gum.
04:29 I've used this since I was about 16.
04:31 The only reason I got it was because it looked fancy.
04:36 And I was 16.
04:37 And I think the one I got was like this big as well.
04:39 It was like I got it with a voucher for Christmas.
04:41 But I've used it ever since.
04:43 And I guess when you find your smell, it's your smell.
04:45 I really think I meet a lot of people throughout the day.
04:49 And I think people look at me, and they think he looks
04:52 like he doesn't smell nice.
04:54 And I try to.
04:59 So this is, I think, the thing that I use the most in the day.
05:01 This is my iPad mini.
05:03 Yeah, I moved off a phone in 2015.
05:06 And I didn't have any form of communication for about a year.
05:09 I was just off everything.
05:11 And then when I got back to work for Divide,
05:14 I was like, I'm going to move back onto email.
05:15 Everyone expects a reply to a text instantly.
05:18 With email, for some reason, culturally, everyone's like,
05:21 yeah, yeah, yeah, you can reply to that tomorrow.
05:23 And it's not like you're just spending
05:25 your whole time on your phone.
05:26 And I have three folders.
05:27 I have personal, work, and urgent.
05:30 For me to compartmentalize conversations,
05:33 rather than just having chaos.
05:34 It's helpful for brain space, especially
05:36 with a young family.
05:37 I actually write every single one of my songs
05:39 on here as well.
05:40 So on notes, all of my lyrics are written on here
05:43 on voice notes as well.
05:45 All of my ideas for guitar riffs and stuff like that.
05:48 So this is an important bit of kit.
05:50 And it's really smashed up.
05:51 Like, really, really smashed up.
05:53 I made a load of songs with J Balvin.
05:55 And he was so offended that my iPad was so smashed up
05:58 and I was using it.
05:59 Like, it was literally like holes in it.
06:01 He bought me a new one then and there.
06:02 And yeah, that's this one.
06:03 And it's smashed up.
06:04 So Jose, thank you.
06:05 But it's the same as the one you replaced.
06:08 These headphones.
06:10 I have like seven pairs of these because I keep losing them.
06:13 And then finding them again.
06:14 So these aren't the pros.
06:17 Yeah, I think headphones are essential for anything.
06:19 I mean, for me checking the mixes of my music,
06:21 I video call my kids and stuff like that.
06:23 So to be able to be in private, basically in public,
06:26 I think it's quite important.
06:27 The three artists I would listen to for the rest of my life.
06:30 I think the Beatles.
06:31 I'm going to choose artists that have a wide, wide, wide
06:33 catalog.
06:34 Because there are some artists that are my favorite artists,
06:35 but have like two or three albums.
06:37 And if it was for the rest of my life,
06:39 I'd want to have a wide catalog.
06:40 So I would say the Beatles.
06:42 I would say Eminem.
06:44 And Foy Vance.
06:46 So another one of my essentials would be a corkscrew bottle
06:52 opener for wine.
06:54 I stopped drinking spirits a couple of years ago.
06:56 And I've kind of channeled all my energy into red wine.
06:59 Yeah, I've been caught out a few times
07:01 where you're in a situation where you have a bottle of wine
07:04 and you want to drink it.
07:05 And I've learned how to push a cork down now.
07:08 And basically open a bottle without a corkscrew.
07:10 And sometimes, especially wearing a white t-shirt,
07:12 it's dangerous.
07:13 You push it in and it goes all over you.
07:15 So I would say a corkscrew is essential in my bag.
07:18 I would say a bottle of wine as well.
07:20 But I think that that's not essential to bring with you
07:22 at all times.
07:23 Because pretty much anywhere in the world,
07:25 you can find a bottle of wine.
07:27 This is the only thing that I carry on my person,
07:30 apart from a watch.
07:31 I have a wallet.
07:33 I used to carry a wallet with cash in it.
07:35 And yeah, cash just seems to be a thing of the past now.
07:37 So I just literally have a credit card.
07:39 I feel like I could be caught out in any situation
07:42 and be fine with--
07:44 even if I didn't have a watch, just a credit card.
07:46 I think you can get yourself out of a few binds.
07:49 Just one credit card, yeah.
07:50 And I've got a card that someone gave me for counseling,
07:54 custody, and meditation.
07:58 It sometimes has cards in there that people give me.
08:00 And I forget to take out.
08:02 But yeah, I should probably take that one out.
08:04 I've watched so many of these.
08:05 And it's nice to be the one being watched today.
08:08 I've always wondered about what my essentials would be.
08:10 And I really wanted to pick things
08:12 that were actually in my bag.
08:13 And yeah, thank you so much for having me.
08:15 And I hope you enjoy the next person, whoever it is.
08:20 (upbeat music)