Everyone hopes they could have a son like Ed Sheeran. The singer treated his parents to a three-hour private viewing at the Louvre in Paris. The museum is famous for housing the Mona Lisa among other art work.
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Sheeran’s father described the experience to BBC, saying it was “the only time I’ve been able to study the Mona Lisa without the crowds.” Sheeran played a charity concert in Paris in 2021, which his parents attended. The next day he took them to see the museum.
“Imogen and I went to Paris to see Edward perform at the Global Citizen gig in front of the Eiffel Tower, which was extraordinary enough,” he said in the interview, “He then surprised us on Sunday evening by taking us with his wife Cherry to the Louvre. I think it was his way of saying thank you to us.”
Both Ed Sheeran and the couple’s other son Matthew are performers. Sheeran’s father also described listening to his other son play as well.
“We sat next to him listening to the full choir singing an anthem composed by him,” he said. “It was commissioned for a service of celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the Arts Society. Matthew was inspired to write the choral piece by an early Italian Renaissance painting which he’d seen at the Courtauld Galleries in London. It was a true full-circle moment.”
Ed Sheeran Introduced Father to Various Artists
It’s not the first time that Sheeran has taken his father to see famous artworks. Speaking with the Mirror, Sheeran’s father also described the various art works he’s seen thanks to his son.
“In 2015, Edward took me to meet his friend Damien Hirst at his studio and home in Gloucestershire. We visited Damien again in 2019, this time at his studio in central London. He was working on a series of cherry blossom paintings,” he said. “Imogen and I saw them exhibited at the Foundation Cartier, Paris, in 2021. It was one of those special, feel-good exhibitions that we just didn’t want to leave.
Likewise, Sheeran’s parents also got the chance to meet painter David Hockney as well. He described a meeting at his studio in 2020.
“In 2020, Hockney invited us both to his studio in LA to look at his latest work, including some of his first Normandy pictures. We had such a good time with him. We love his unfailing positivity, how celebratory his art is, and how he brings so much joy to so many, he said. “He cracked open a bottle of champagne and started singing raunchy old Yorkshire songs to us. It was hilarious.”
Sheeran has encouraged his father to paint as well.
[Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images]
