Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift’s Friendship Has Changed Since the Red Tour. How They Maintain It with ‘6-Hour Catchups’

Sheeran says he now sees Swift “four times a year,” during which “we have a proper sit-down, six-hour catchups”

Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift may live busy lives, but they will always make time for their friendship.

Over 10 years after their friendship began in 2012, Sheeran, 34, is opening up about how his bond with Swift, 35, has remained close even as times have changed.

The “Shape of You” singer brought up the topic when asked about his favorite memory with the pop star during an appearance on the latest edition of Call Her Daddy.

Sheeran recalled feeling “nostalgic” about the time he served as Swift’s opening act on the Red Tour, in support of her 2012 album Red. The album featured the pair’s collaboration “Everything Has Changed.”

He said the nostalgia came after reviewing old voice notes and texts between him and people he’s known for a long time, for a court case, presumably his 2023 copyright infringement lawsuit over his 2014 single “Thinking Out Loud,” for which he was found not liable.

“I lived in Nashville and she lived in Nashville and we used to fly to and from the gigs together and do all sorts of, I don’t know,” said Sheeran. “I literally spent almost every single day with her for about six months, so I think that period of time and I do, you know, I see her when I see her.”

While the number of times that two musicians get to see each other has changed, they always make sure to take advantage of the opportunity.

“I probably see her like four times a year and we do what I said — like instead of catching up the whole time, we have a proper sit-down, six-hour catchups and I think that’s a really nice way to do it. But I think [of] that period, yeah. 2013,” Sheeran said.

In May 2023, Sheeran said in an interview with Zane Lowe’s Apple Music 1 that he is able to have “long” conversations with Swift because “she’s one of the only people that actually truly understands where I’m at.”

“I mean that in itself is kind of therapy as well, because you’re actually talking to someone that genuinely gets it,” said Sheeran at the time.

“That has all the things that you feel and have insecurities about and how other people treat you or how your family treat you, how your friends treat you. She’s basically in the same sphere,” he added.

The two reunited publicly last August when Sheeran joined Swift at London’s Wembley Stadium to perform during the Eras Tour’s surprise songs section.