Here's what went down at Ed Sheeran’s surprise performance at Radio 1's Big Weekend 2025
Ed Sheeran was the surprise guest at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend on Saturday (24.05.25).
When Contact Music arrived at Liverpool's Sefton Park for Radio 1's Big Weekend 2025 on Saturday morning (24.05.25), we heard rumblings in the press area that the surprise act set to open the New Music Stage was headline-worthy. Bound to secrecy, however, it wasn’t until hundreds of people started flooding into the big top tent that things slowly started to unravel.
A post on Radio 1’s Instagram 20 minutes before the set time revealed the identity as one of the biggest artists in the world: Ed Sheeran.
As the news started to filter through the crowd, the excitement reached fever pitch and, upon his arrival onstage, the cheers and screams were deafening.
To see such a huge name this early in the day is virtually unheard of, let alone for them to play anything other than the main stage.
What followed was a career-spanning dive through his biggest hits, veering between the emotional love songs ‘Perfect’ and ‘Thinking Out Loud’ to the intense ‘Bloodstream’, dancey ‘Shape Of You’ and even his powerful breakthrough single ‘The A Team’.
After encouraging the audience to use up all of its collective energy for his set, he of course made time to perform his newest singles, ‘Azizam’ and ‘Old Phone’. As surprises go, this was one for the ages.
Words: Ben Jolley
