+ (pronounced as Plus) is the debut studio album by singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran. It was released via Atlantic Records on September 9, 2011. It is preceded by the lead single The A Team.

Background and releaseEdit

Sheeran signed to Atlantic Records and was signed to Elton John's management team called Rocket, which Sheeran discussed, saying: "Elton walked in and said, 'Where's Ed Sheeran?' I was like, 'Fucking hell! He knows my name!' It's surreal, growing up listening to his music and now he is one of the people who sings my praises and helps my career and rings me up and actually has an interest in me".

Sheeran started performing with the acoustic guitar aged 11 and his love for the instrument was what "got [him] into music and singing". His musical inspirations from an early age surfaced from The Beatles and Bob Dylan, but he noted Damien Rice as a larger influence on his music whom he met after an intimate performance in Dublin. Throughout the production of +, Sheeran knew "how [he] wanted every single song to sound", and because of this they only took around one day each to record, with the final product featuring "the same sound", which he described as an achievement. The album was released on September 9, 2011. [1]


  • The A Team was released as the lead single from the album on May 1, 2011.
  • You Need Me, I Don't Need You was released as the second single from the album on August 26, 2011. The song was also featured on Sheeran's EP One Take.
  • Lego House was released as the third single from the album on November 13, 2011.
  • Drunk was released as the fourth single from the album on February 19, 2012.
  • Small Bump was released as the fifth single from the album on May 25, 2012.
  • Give Me Love was released as the sixth and final single from the album on November 21, 2012.


Critical ResponseEdit

+ received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". [2]

Commercial PerformanceEdit

For the week of 18 September 2011, + debuted atop the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 102,000 copies. + debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling 42,000 units in its first week. [3]


No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "The A Team" Ed Sheeran Jake Gosling 4:19
2. "Drunk" Sheeran, Gosling Gosling 3:20
3. "U.N.I." Sheeran, Gosling Gosling 3:49
4. "Grade 8" Sheeran, Robert Conlon, Sukhdeep Uppall Gosling 3:00
5. "Wake Me Up" Sheeran, Gosling Gosling 3:50
6. "Small Bump" Sheeran Gosling 4:19
7. "This" Sheeran, Gordon Mills Gosling 3:16
8. "The City" Sheeran, Gosling Gosling 3:54
9. "Lego House" Sheeran, Gosling, Chris Leonard Gosling 3:05
10. "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" Sheeran, Gosling, Leonard Gosling, Charlie Hugall 3:40
11. "Kiss Me" Sheeran, Julie Frost, Justin Franks Sheeran, No ID 4:41
12. "Give Me Love" Sheeran, Gosling, Leonard Gosling 5:26
13. "The Parting Glass" (hidden track) Traditional song 3:01

Deluxe edition bonus tracksEdit

Track No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
13. "Autumn Leaves" Sheeran, Gosling Gosling 3:21
14. "Little Bird" Sheeran Gosling 3:45
15. "Gold Rush" Sheeran, Amy Wadge Gosling 4:03
16. "Sunburn" Sheeran Gosling 4:36


  1. - Background
  2. - Reception
  3. - Commercial performance