The little-known
town of Ipswich in eastern England has historically prided itself on farming
and football, but is now celebrating the stellar pop career of its most famous
son, Ed Sheeran. The global hit machine's journey to stardom began in the
nearby town of Framlingham, where he played his first gig in front of around 30
people. Fourteen years later, the singer is capping off a two-year
international tour, on which he played for almost nine million people, with
four homecoming shows in Ipswich.

An exhibition
entitled "Made in Suffolk", will mark the event, tracing the career
of the singer/songwriter responsible for hit singles such as "Shape of
You", which helped him amass a £160 million ($194 million, 175 million
euro) fortune.  The show reveals his
steely determination to make it in the music business and the unfailing support
of his parents, who sold merchandise during his early concerts.

A video montage
follows his journey from babyhood to adulthood, with his round face and shock
of red hair a constant presence as he tries his hand at the piano, drums and
the guitar, always with a smile on his lips. 
A written account details how as a boy Edward Christopher Sheeran sang
in the choir and played cello in the school orchestra in Framlingham while a
photograph captures him busking in the street, guitar case open to accept
donations, aged 13.

Natural showman

Ian Johnson, who
spotted Sheeran when he was 16 and helped him break through, told AFP how he
was "impressed with... the way he engaged the audience at that
age".  His career took off with the
2011 release of his first album, "+", followed by a series of hits
including "Don't", "Thinking Out Loud" and "Castle On
The Hill", which explores his love of growing up in rural Suffolk. The
exhibition presents both the superstar who electrifies crowds at concerts in
Germany, Australia and the United States-captured by photographer Mark
Surridge-and also the four-time Grammy winner's more private side.

A bronze
sculpture depicting a young Ed and his brother embracing each other is on show,
as well as several drawings, including an Andy Warhol inspired self-portrait in
orange and black, his favorite colors.  A
series of portraits by the painter Colin Davidson, who counts Queen Elizabeth
II as one of his previous subjects, reveal "the Ed I think we might see
whenever he's seemingly unaware of anyone else being in the room," he told
AFP.  "I like to think that's the
mood that he's in whenever he's on his own, creating his work or writing
songs," added the painter.

'Humble' guy

Other highlights
of the free exhibition, which runs until spring 2020, are two of his guitars,
one of which he named "Cyril", and which starred in more than 300
concerts in 2009. There is also a puppet of the performer used in the video
clip for "Sing". In Ipswich, the superstar is a hero.  The Swan pub in the town Centre sells
postcards and other memorabilia, and even keeps a bottle of Sheeran's favorite
ketchup in a Plexiglas box "in case Ed comes".

Singer Barny
Holmes, who jammed with Sheeran about ten years ago, told AFP his success could
be explained partly because "everyone can relate to an
underdog".  "You have this
really humble, sweet, pale ginger guy... but he was a sweet guy that you just
didn't expect to have such a big presence," Holmes said after a gig in the
pub. "I think that's the Ed Sheeran effect." - AFP