Ed Sheeran Compares His Friendship with Taylor Swift to That of Carole King and James Taylor

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Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift are recognized globally as two of the most prominent musicians today, yet their relationship transcends celebrity; they consider each other family.

In a recent podcast interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sheeran shared insights into his close bond with Swift, who has previously described him as “the James Taylor to my Carole King.” He noted, “Obviously, we’re the opposite sex, and we’re from different countries and cultures, but I feel very intertwined creatively with her.”

Sheeran elaborated, saying, “I do really agree with the James Taylor and Carole King thing. We have very transient lives … I do see her from time to time. And when we see [each other], you just lock back in and reconnect, and it’s like no time has passed. It’s very similar to a sibling.”

The friendship began in the early 2010s when they wrote the fan-favorite track “Everything Has Changed” on Swift’s backyard trampoline after their teams facilitated the introduction. Swift reflected on their relationship in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, stating, “We’ve gotten matching Scottish folds, made each other arts and crafts Christmas presents, vacationed with our families and had each other’s backs … He is the James Taylor to my Carole King, and I can’t imagine a time when he wouldn’t be.”

Swift has reiterated this sentiment on multiple occasions. Most recently, during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she referred to Sheeran as “like family” while recounting a humorous moment about forgetting to inform him of her engagement to Travis Kelce in August. “He doesn’t have a phone,” Swift explained. “This is one of my absolute favorite people on the planet, and the news came out, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, we forgot to call Ed!’”

Despite Sheeran’s absence from Swift’s post-engagement call list, they later enjoyed a “four-hour catchup,” as Sheeran revealed in a recent interview with Access Hollywood.

“I’m not self-conscious about my relationship with her,” he stated in November. “We’ve been friends for many years. We’re super close, and we see each other when we see each other. And when we see each other, we lock back into where we left off.”