Ed Sheeran stuns students with surprise appearance

Ed Sheeran surprised pupils by making a surprise appearance during a school concert in Cardiff.

The pop superstar performed for a crowd of 2,000 in the main hall of Fitzalan High School.

“It shook me up,” said Kia, a 17-year-old Grade 12 student. She added, “I got goosebumps.”

The group was listening to a loud performance of Only Boys celebrating the school’s excellent performance report, when Sheeran unexpectedly appeared on stage.

His appearance was part of the launch of the new Ed Sheeran FoundationWhich advocates music education in schools across the UK.

Sheeran’s Welsh song-writing partner Amy Wadge helped organize the event in Wales.

“It was pretty amazing,” Kia said.

“We didn’t know he was coming… everyone was very surprised.”

Sheeran performed two songs, Thinking Out Loud and Shape of You, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

Acting headteacher Adam Lear said it happened during a whole school assembly of 1,800 students and 200 staff.

“He told us he was from small Ipswich, like Cardiff,” Kia said, “and his teachers were really good to him, just like us, and it inspired him to pursue his dreams.”

“It was surreal,” said 17-year-old music student Maxim, “Here you’d find Ed Sheeran playing songs that you hear on the radio… It really changes your experience of school.”

Mr Lear said the surprise came during a full school assembly of 1,800 students and 200 staff.

As Only Boys Aloud performed for the group, backstage 80 music pupils from year nine and above were meeting Sheeran and Wadge before joining them for the main show.

“The students were absolutely overwhelmed,” he said.

“No one knew this was going to happen, only I knew in the beginning.”

“You could see by their faces they were absolutely shocked by what was happening,” said acting headteacher Adam Lear.

Maxim, who plays bass in a Welsh-language band, was among the students who met Sheeran in person.

She said he asked her challenging questions, including how Sheeran manages writer’s block.

“He talked about writing some songs that he doesn’t like as much at the moment,” she said.

“He was saying that you have to write as much as you can, try and improve and always believe in yourself.”

17-year-old Paige Cooper was encouraged to continue studying drama and music.

“He was talking about how music as a subject is often looked down upon and how he flunked school,” she said.

“It’s nice to hear because creative subjects are often looked down upon quite a bit.”

He said this taught him the importance of “putting your work out there.”

Another student, Katie Brown, 17, said the group was “shocked” when Sheeran walked into the room.

“He gave us an inspirational speech about trying to work hard and no matter how much you fail, just keep going,” he said.

When Sheeran came on stage, Katie said the group was cheering and shouting.

Page said, “He wasn’t even off the screen and everyone was thrown into chaos… What’s Ed Sheeran doing here?”

Katie remembered, “Then he took out his guitar and everyone was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.”

Page said, “He’s just started singing Thinking Out Loud and it sounds exactly like he sings it on the hit recording.”

“Then they did Shape of You, they included us in the chorus and it felt like we were all there and part of it.

“We were singing along to Ed Sheeran.”