Ed Sheeran Announced As 'SNL' Musical Guest Amid COVID-19 Diagnosis

Photo: Getty Images

Ed Sheeran is heading to Saturday Night Live.

On Saturday (October 23), the long-running sketch comedy show announced that the pop star will appear as the musical guest for the Kieran Culkin-hosted episode on November 6. It will mark his third appearance on the show. Back in 2014, he took to the Studio 8H stage to perform "Don't" and "Sing" off his album, x, and followed up that stint with a 2017 performance of "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill," from ÷.

News of Sheeran's booking arrived just a day before he announced that he has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and will self-isolate for the near future, trading his scheduled in-person press for his upcoming album, =, with remote interviews and performances. "Hey guys. Quick note to tell you that I’ve sadly tested positive for Covid, so I’m now self-isolating and following government guidelines," he wrote on Instagram. "It means that I’m now unable to plough ahead with any in person commitments for now, so I’ll be doing as many of my planned interviews/performances I can from my house. Apologies to anyone I’ve let down. Be safe everyone x."

Meanwhile, sources close to Page Six revealed that producers of SNL are scrambling to replace Sheeran with "another singer who appeals to the same demo." However, Sheeran does want to move forward with the booking. "Ed is offering to perform live via video link, but this isn’t something SNL does,” the source told Page Six. "The show likes to have the performer in studio.”

In addition to SNL, Sheeran is scheduled to appear as the Mega Mentor on this week's episode of The Voice, and since the knockout round was pre-recorded, he will still be featured in those episodes.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content