Ed Sheeran reveals he ‘cured his stutter’ by copying Eminem’s raps

Last Updated on 05/17/2023 by てんしょく飯

Ed Sheeran, who suffered from a stutter as a child, has revealed that he cured his stutter by copying Eminem’s raps over and over again.

Ed Sheeran overcame his stutter thanks to Eminem

Popular singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, known for hits such as ‘Shape of You’ and ‘Perfect’ and who has won four Grammy Awards, thanked rapper Eminem on US radio programme The Howard Stern Show.

Ed, who developed a stutter as a child when he endured severe pain after doctors forgot to anaesthetise him during an operation to remove a birthmark on his face, said that he tried to cure his stuttering by undergoing all kinds of speech therapy. However, what worked better than any speech therapy was Eminem’s rap. In addition, the National Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities states that about 70-80% of stuttering will heal spontaneously, while the remaining 20-30% will fix the symptoms.

According to Ed, when he was nine years old, his uncle recommended Eminem’s album The Marshall Mathers LP to him, saying he was the next Bob Dylan, and his stuttering improved when he listened to the album and repeatedly mimicked Eminem’s raps.

‘I learnt all the songs on the album and rapped over and over, and over, and over, and my stuttering was cured.’

Incidentally, more than a decade later, Ed collaborated with his “mentor” Eminem and they became close enough to keep in touch in private. Of his relationship with Eminem, Ed says: “All these years later, I’ve been writing songs with Eminem and we’ve got to know each other better” and “Eminem feels different [from the others]. He’s quite reclusive and doesn’t meet too many people. I’ve known him for six years now, we’ve written three songs together and we’ve performed together on stage twice. He still lives locally and is a very empathetic person who cares about his community”.