In a recent interview with Hits Radio, singer Ed Sheeran shared a surprising tidbit about his hit song “Shape of You.”
He revealed that the song was originally intended for Barbadian pop icon Rihanna.
Praising Rihanna’s genre-bending abilities, Sheeran explained that she was his muse while writing the song, which was released in 2017 and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance.
This wasn’t the only interesting revelation from Sheeran. He also disclosed that he wrote Justin Bieber’s hit “Love Yourself,” a song that was initially rejected by several artists before finding its home with Bieber.
Rihanna is genre-less, she can do anything. She’s the grail for songwriters. When I wrote Shape Of You, the person I was writing in my mind for was Rihanna,” Sheeran said.