Ed Sheeran asked Jay-Z to feature on his hit song ‘Shape of You’ but got rejected

Ed Sheeran has revealed that Jay-Z turned down a feature on his Grammy-winning song ‘Shape of You’.

During an interview with Rolling Stone, the singer got candid about his 2017 smash hit.

Initially, he wanted the iconic hip-hop artist to provide a rap verse; however, Jay Z declined.

But rest assured there’s no bad blood between these two.

“We were in touch,” said Sheeran, as per the outlet.

“I sent him the song, and he said, ‘I don’t think the song needs a rap verse'.

"He was probably right. He’s got a very, very good ear.

"He usually gets things right. It was a very natural, respectful pass.”

In the same interview, the father-of-two said he wanted to slow down on touring and become more of a hands-on father.

“I don’t want to homeschool my kids,” he said.

“I love the way that country artists do it. They do the weekend-warrior thing, where they’ll just go out and play weekends. That’s obviously not possible in America because I live so far away from America. But it’s certainly possible in Europe, to just go out and play Frankfurt on a Saturday night, come back.”.

Sheeran, who has a two-year-old and a 10-month-old, recently revealed that his wife, Cherry, was diagnosed with a tumor.

However, she was unable to receive surgery during her pregnancy but underwent a successful operation in June after their second child was born in May 2022.

Earlier this month, the 'Thinking Out Loud' singer opened up about the experience and how it inspired his latest album, Subtract.

Sheeran wrote on Instagram: "I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be.

"Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art."

The singer revealed that writing songs is his 'therapy' and helps him process his grief.

“Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out," he said.

"And in just over a week I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts."

Subtract is set to be released May 5.