Ed Sheeran revealed that his wife, Cherry Seaborn, learned that she had a tumor while pregnant with their second daughter, and could not take any action until after their baby was born last year.
The singer-songwriter shared the story while speaking about the inspiration behind his upcoming album and the series of events that spurred him to musically reflect on his "deepest, darkest thoughts."
"I had been working on 'Subtract' for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be," Sheeran said in a statement, according to People. "Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art."
Sheeran said writing music is therapeutic and helped him to process his emotions.
"I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade's worth of work with my deepest, darkest thoughts," he said.
"Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumor, with no route to treatment until after the birth," Sheeran continued.
"My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiraling through fear, depression and anxiety," Sheeran added in reference to a plagiarism lawsuit involving his song "Shape of You." "I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air."
Sheeran said those series of events inspired him to write an album that represented what he was experiencing.
"It's opening the trapdoor into my soul," he said. "For the first time I'm not trying to craft an album people will like, I'm merely putting something out that's honest and true to where I am in my adult life. This is last February's diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is 'Subtract.'"
Sheeran announced the birth of his second daughter in May on Instagram, writing that he and Seaborn were "so in love with her, and over the moon to be a family of 4."
He has not commented further on his wife's condition.