New version arrives following ACM Awards performance
Global superstar Ed Sheeran has released a studio recording of “Life Goes On” featuring Luke Combs via Atlantic Records. Sheeran and Combs revealed the surprise release on social media shortly after their show-stopping, live performance of the track on the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards Thursday night (May 11th).
“We met like 2018, I’d heard Luke’s music through a friend… and we’ve just been friends for years now, and it’s been great,” Sheeran tells ACM host Garth Brooks after the performance.
The original version of the track appears on Sheeran’s sixth studio album, Subtract, which also features lead single “Eyes Closed.” Combs is currently celebrating the release of his new album, Getting’ Old, a companion piece to his acclaimed 2022 record Growin’ Up.
Released last week, Subtract is the result of Sheeran pushing the boundaries of his songcraft, as he delivers the most profound songwriting of his career. Teaming-up with Aaron Dessner (The National) on writing and production after the pair joined forces following an introduction from mutual friend Taylor Swift, Ed and Aaron began crafting the album in February last year. Writing over 30 songs during their month-long studio stint in Kent, UK, the album’s fourteen tracks are seamlessly tied together by exquisite production from paired back, folk-leaning textures to bolder, full-band/orchestral arrangements.
Blending never-before-seen personal archive, interviews and performances, the four-part docu-series Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All is streaming on Disney+. Timed with the arrival of the album, he intimate documentary explores how his personal experiences have shaped him to become the artist he is today.
Sheeran is currently in the midst of his massive Mathematics Tour, hitting stadiums across North America now. Fourteen stops will coincide with his recently announced Subtract Tour, a run of intimate shows in theaters and auditoriums across 14 cities in North America.
Last week, Sheeran won a copyright infringement case over Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” for his 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud.” Sheeran had been accused of copying the sheet music for Gaye’s 1973 soul classic by the family of the song’s late co-writer, Ed Tonwshend. The English singer and songwriter performed a portion of both songs in court with his guitar, and was found not liable after a jury deliberated for nearly three hours.
