Ed Sheeran may be the biggest male pop star in the world right now, but his friend and mentor Sir Elton John has warned the young British singer that his fame won’t last forever, and neither will his songs be so loved.

The 71 year old pop legend was speaking about the nature of massive worldwide fame on fellow singer George Ezra’s podcast this week, and said that 27 year old Ed’s music won’t be popular forever, and that he must be prepared for that eventual downturn.

“You have a heyday and you have a rest, and the heyday can never be replaced,” Sir Elton explained about his own experiences. “After that I had the common sense to know I’m not going to have a number one every time straight away. I knew someone else would take over. It’s cyclical.”

Ed SheeranEd Sheeran's fame won't last forever, Elton warned

“Ed will go through that and I’ve talked to him about it. I’ve said, ‘There’ll come a time where this won’t happen every time and you have to accept that’.”

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Sir Elton also revealed that, despite his friendship with Sheeran, he’s become slightly annoyed at still hearing his hits on American radio, well over a year after his latest album Divide was released.

Elton JohnSir Elton John is beginning his farewell tour in September 2018

“On the [American radio] chart, which is the middle-of-the-road chart, Ed is still number one and ‘Shape Of You’ is still in the chart. It’s like, ‘Why? How many times do you want to listen to these things?’”

Now in his seventies and looking to spend more time with his young family, John recently announced a massive three-year farewell tour, spanning more than 300 shows across the world. It’s set to commence in early September 2018 and conclude in 2021.

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