Ed Sheeran knows a thing or two about writing popular songs thanks to his more than two dozen top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. He also knows a great song by another artist when he hears it, which might explain why during a recent visit to the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast Sheeran was more than happy to rain some praise on two of his favorite songwriters.
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When host Shane asked if Sheeran remembered the video for Lana Del Rey’s debut single, “Video Games,” Sheeran enthusiastically recalled that it came out around the same time as his debut song, “A Team” and that, in a word, LDR’s track was “incredible.”
“I just [think] that song’s just kind of like the perfect debut song isn’t it?” Sheeran said of “Video Games.” Then, asked to name another flawless debut song, Ed said, without hesitation, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License,” as well as Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time,” commenting, “there is no better debut song,” dubbing Britney’s signature track one of the “top two or three best songs ever written.”
Sheeran — who repeatedly displayed a savant-level knowledge of other artist’s timelines and debut singles — went on to say that not only is “Drivers License” a “great” song, but both of Rodrigo’s albums, Sour and Guts, are, in his estimation, “un-skippable… it’s just, as a record, just a great record.” Among the other songs Sheeran had no notes on were Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.”
Listen to Sheeran on Therapuss here (LDR/Britney/Rodrigo) talk begins at 38:50 mark).