Los Angeles: Grammy-winning singer Ed Sheeran has admitted he was “intensely unhappy” during the early years of his career, saying he prioritised music over his personal happiness.

Speaking to ‘The Sun’, Sheeran reflected on the first decade of his career, when he focused entirely on work. “I think in the first decade of my career I was intensely unhappy as I had no balance, I was just work, work, work. And yes, everything was hyper-successful, but it was hyper-successful because I had no personal life at all,” he said.

The singer explained that marriage, fatherhood and friendships have since helped him strike a healthier balance. “Being able to spend time with my friends and family, that has now become 70 per cent of my life, and work is like 30 per cent. Before, it was 100 per cent and zero anything else. The balance of getting to exist as a human being rather than just a pop star machine, that would be my measure of success.”

Sheeran, who shares daughters Lyra, five, and Jupiter, three, with wife Cherry Seaborn, said he now puts family first. “The biggest thing for me is being able to balance being a dad and being a husband, and to feel like I am achieving both things to a good level.”

He added that while his 20s required relentless work, his priorities have shifted. “You have to do that at some point in life, but at some point you have to take your foot off the gas, especially when you have children.”

IANS