In a post to social media, the singer outlined a series of unfortunate events that took place at the start of 2022 within the space of a month, and how that difficult time affected his mental health.
He revealed his wife was diagnosed with a tumour while she was pregnant, “with no route to treatment until after the birth”.
His best friend Jamal, “a brother to me”, also passed away suddenly, which came around the time that he was in court over claims he had plagiarised his song ‘Shape Of You’.
“I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter,” he said.
“I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.”
The songwriter said he had been working on his new album Subtract for a decade, but these events “changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art”.
“And in just over a week I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts,” he said.
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