Ed Sheeran served as the musical guest for this Saturday night's episode of "saturday night Live." With Alec Baldwin set to host, the show was bound to skew in a political direction due to Baldwin's famed Donald Trump impersonation. The British singer seemed ready to provide some nonpolitical moments of enjoyment for the in-studio audience, performing two of his newest songs on one of the biggest stages.
The performance
For his first performance of the night, Sheeran performed "Shape of You," his extraordinarily popular new single. The song has a certain dancehall pop to it, impossible not to tap one's foot to, as evidenced by his performance on "Saturday Night Live." He demonstrated while the single debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, his first ever number one single in the country.
For his second performance on "Saturday Night Live" on Saturday, Sheeran turned to his other new single, "Castle on the Hill." The song is about getting drunk and enjoying good times with friends, but the tempo of the song is more slow and drawn out than "Shape of You," allowing the singer to show off some of his more nuanced vocal techniques and pitch talent.
A big year
This was not the first appearance Sheeran has made on "Saturday Night Live." Back in 2014, the singer performed his two singles at the time, "Sing" and "Don't" during an episode hosted by Seth Rogen. Taylor Swift also made a cameo in that episode, prompting hope that it may happen again. The only celebrity cameos for this week came from Melissa McCarthy and show veteran Tracy Morgan, though.
The performance on "Saturday Night Live" kicks off a big month for Sheeran, as he is set to release his next studio album, "Divide," on March 3. It will be his first studio album in almost three years, following the success of "Multiply." He has previously claimed that his third studio album would be his best music yet, so fans are eagerly awaiting the release of the record within the next few weeks. In the meantime, fans can have his first two singles on repeat to tide them over until then.
