Man Crush Monday: Ed Sheeran

          He is Edward Christopher Sheeran, also known as Ed Sheeran. He is  is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Hebden Bridge, raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he moved to London in 2008 to pursue a musical career. In early 2011, Sheeran released an independent extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, which caught the attention of both Elton John and Jamie Foxx. He then signed to Asylum Records. His debut album, +, containing the singles “The A Team” and “Lego House“, was certified quintuple platinum in the United Kingdom. In 2012, he won two Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. “The A Team” won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

           Sheeran began to become known abroad in 2012, in the United States he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swift‘s fourth studio album, Red, and wrote songs for One Direction. “The A Team” was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards and he performed the song in duet with Elton John during the ceremony. He spent much of 2013 touring North America as the opening act for Swift‘s The Red Tour. His second studio album titled x (read as “multiply“) was released worldwide on 23 June 2014, charting at number one in the UK and US. He was nominated for Best New Artist at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.

          Sheeran was born in Hebden Bridge near Halifax, West Yorkshire but moved to Framlingham, Suffolk as a child. His father, John Sheeran, is an art curator and lecturer. His mother, Imogen Lock, is a culture publicist-turned-jewellery designer. His parents ran the independent art consultancy, Sheeran Lock, from 1990 to 2010. Sheeran, the younger of two boys, has an older brother, Matthew, who is a classical composer and postgraduate music student.

           Sheeran‘s paternal grandparents were Irish and he was raised as a Roman Catholic. He sang in a local church choir from the age of four, learned guitar at a very young age, and began writing songs during his time at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham. His early childhood memories include listening to Van Morrison during his trips to London with his parents and going to an intimate Damien Rice gig in Ireland when he was eleven. In addition to Rice, he has also cited The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Nizlopi and Eminem as his biggest musical influences. He is a patron of the Youth Music Theatre UK. He was accepted at the National Youth Theatre as a teenager.

          In 2012, Sheeran purchased a farm near Framlingham, Suffolk, which is currently undergoing renovation. He has stated that he hopes to raise a family there.  Sheeran lived between Hendersonville, Tennessee and Los Angeles for the duration of 2013. Sheeran is the second cousin of broadcaster Gordon Burns.

To know more about Ed Sheeran, just go here: http://www.edsheeran.com/splash/x-buy-us

November Playlist: One Direction

What Makes You Beautiful

Gotta Be You

One Thing

More Than This

Live While We’re Young

Kiss You

Little Things

One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)

Best Song Ever

Story Of My Life

Midnight Memories

You and I

Steal My Girl

Man Crush Monday: Zayn Malik

          He is Zain Javadd Malik, also known as Zayn Malik. He is a member of One Direction along with Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan.

         Zayn was born in West Lane, Baildon, Bradford, England. He is of English and Pakistani descent. He was born to British-Pakistani father Yaser Malik and English mother Patricia. He has one older sister, Doniya, and two younger sisters, Waliyha and Safaa. He and his family are Muslim. Zayn grew up in East Bowling, located south of the Bradford city centre. He was a student at Lower Fields Primary School in East Bowling and went to Tong High School, a state comprehensive school.

        In 2010, when he was 17 years old, Zayn auditioned in Manchester for the seventh series of The X Factor.  He sang “Let Me Love You” by Mario. All three judges — Simon, Louis, and Nicole — gave him a ‘yes’. His audition was initially not broadcast, but was later shown on The Xtra Factor.

        Zayn was noted for becoming nervous in bootcamp. When he was told he had to dance, he decided to remain backstage, effectively running the risk of elimination. When Simon noticed Zayn missing from the dance routine, he went backstage to convince him to return. Later on, Zayn said it was a lack of confidence that caused him to run away.

          Following The X Factor, One Direction signed a record contract with Sony Music subsidiary Syco Music. They released their studio album, Up All Night. A few years later on February 29, 2012, Zayn left One Direction‘s tour to return to the UK and be with his family due to the death of a family member.

          Zayn smokes cigarettes. In late 2011, he announced that his New Year’s resolution was to quit smoking. However, he was photographed throughout 2012 still smoking. Zayn has stopped smoking ever since early 2013. In late May 2014, a video — recorded in April — from fellow band member Louis Tomlinson‘s phone was leaked by The Daily Mail, revealing the two boys alongside other members of their management team smoking cannabis in Peru. The footage additionally contained Zayn insulting the merchandise, stating that both them and the fans are tired of irrelevant facts such as “Zayn‘s favorite color is blue”. Liam took it to Twitter to apologize for the boys’ behavior, explaining that their young age led them to make these mistakes.

          Zayn dated fellow The X Fa​ctor contestant Geneva Lane briefly in 2010. At the time, he was 17 and she was 20, but soon they broke up. In 2011, Zayn began dating The X Factor‘s season seven runner-up, Rebecca Ferguson when he was 18, and she was 24. Their relationship drew media attention because of the six year age difference. Their relationship ended after four months in July 2011. And now, he is currently engaged to Perrie Edwards from The X Factor ‘s season eight winner, Little Mix.

          His first tattoo is والتر, which is his grandfather’s name, Walter, in Arabic on his chest toward the upper right. He got the tattoo after his grandfather passed away while he was on The X Factor. During an interview with Capital FM in September 2011, Zayn confirmed he had two additional tattoos. He stated that he had a Japanese symbol that means “born lucky” on his stomach (which was later covered up by a heart), and a yin and yang symbol on his left wrist. Zayn has said that the crossed fingers on his forearm are a symbol of good luck. He tweeted that the inscription across his collarbone meant “be true to who you are”. The tattoo of Perrie was done during the American leg of the boy’s second tour “Take Me Home” in Maryland. The image of perrie is a “hippy” version with a beanie and a peace sign t-shirt. The snake and tiger were done in a hotel room during the Oceania leg of the Take Me Home Tour.

To know more about Zayn Malik, just go here: http://onedirection.wikia.com/wiki/Zayn_Malik