Ed Sheeran has credited Eminem for helping to “cure” his childhood stutter.
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, the British singer-songwriter recalled how his uncle gifted him the rapper’s 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP when he was nine.
Unbeknownst to his family, rapping along to the music ultimately led to him stammering less, even though he was undergoing intense speech therapy at the time.
“(My uncle) just said to my dad, ‘This guy is the next Bob Dylan. You gotta let him listen,’” he recounted. “And by learning that record – and rapping it back to back to back to back – it cured my stutter.”
Ed also noted that he has become friends with Eminem in recent years and told him about how he ended up overcoming the speech impediment.
“I think it’s different with Eminem because he is quite reclusive, doesn’t see or meet that many people. I’ve known him now (for) six years and we’ve done three songs together, I’ve played with him twice onstage. He’s another person I really relate to, as he lives in his hometown still and has his eco-system around him,” the 32-year-old explained, before emphasizing that he jumped at the chance to perform “Stan” alongside the Hip-Hop icon when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.
“I remember getting the call to do it. I was shooting… 14 music videos back to back… and it was like on my day off from shooting the music videos, and I was like, ‘I can’t say no. I can’t,’” he continued. “So, I got a plane straight after my music video, flew there for the song, and then that night flew back. It was really worth it.”