The Strange Thing Ed Sheeran Did With Johnny Cash's Grammy
Who would've thought that Ed Sheeran, a young kid from Suffolk, would go on to become the U.K.'s "artist of the decade" (per BBC)? Martin Talbot of the Official Charts Company — which anointed Sheeran with the prestigious honor — noted that the singer "truly dominated" the 2010s with his numerous hit singles and records. You've definitely walked into a Starbucks, an American Eagle, and a JCPenney and heard "Shape of You" playing at one point or another because that song was virtually inescapable.
According to the outlet, Sheeran spent a total of 79 weeks in the top spot with both albums and singles, while also having a "combined run of 12 number one singles and albums" throughout the decade. In fact, "Shape of You" spent a whopping 14 weeks in the No. 1 spot and sold 4.5 million copies during its peak, becoming Spotify's most-streamed song of the decade with almost 3 billion streams (via BBC).
With Sheeran firmly sitting atop the music world (depending on who you ask), the singer surely has enough stories to tell for a lifetime and beyond — like the time he linked up with good buddy Russell Crowe, owner of multiple Johnny Cash Grammys, to party the night away. In fact, Crowe actually opened up about his late-night escapades with Sheeran and revealed the strange thing they did with one of Johnny Cash's Grammys. So what exactly did Russell Crowe and Ed Sheeran do? Let's get into it!
Ed Sheeran and Russell Crowe did shots out of Johnny Cash's Grammy
Yep, you read that right. Johnny Cash, who won Grammy Awards for "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming" (a tribute album for Elvis Presley featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison), had one of his crowning achievements put to interesting use posthumously when Russell Crowe and Ed Sheeran decided to do shots out of the late singer's prestigious award for the latter performance.
In a (virtual) appearance on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," Crowe opened up about the hilarious story and stated, "I bought [Johnny Cash's Grammy] and I'm a mate of Ed Sheeran's, right, and Ed has been here on the farm a couple of times. One night we're in the bar... and he asked me, 'Where is that Grammy of Johnny Cash's?' I went and got it and he [asked], 'You know what we do with Grammys?'" Sheeran then responded, "Why do you think there's a horn on the Grammy? Because we do shots!"
Crowe then dimmed the lights to "set the scene" for Corden and disclosed that he and Sheeran began taking shots of "Frank Sinatra Jack Daniels," to which Corden responded, "That may be one of the best showbiz stories I've ever heard." But wait, there's more to Russell Crowe and Ed Sheeran's boozy tales...
Russell Crowe also taught Ed Sheeran a drinking tip
In a 2017 appearance for "Fitzy and Wippa," Russell Crowe divulged one hidden strategy he taught Ed Sheeran in an effort to combat the dreaded hangover. In the interview, Crowe stated, "I got a water jug... full to the top with ice, take your bottle of Silver Patron and empty the entire contents over the ice, and now you wait." Sheeran, who was preparing for an upcoming tour, previously lamented about not wanting to be "on water" and wanting to drink after shows before the acting veteran showed him the mysterious trick of the trade.
"You've got to give it 10-15 minutes, put a bit of passion fruit on top, stir it around, then I take that mixture and pour it over fresh ice and a little touch of water. Now, the ice is sunk into the tequila, you've actually added freshwater as well and you've got fresh ice, so there's a large amount of water in this," Crowe continued. "When [Sheeran] sips it, he's like 'Oh wow, that's really light and refreshing and you can do two or three of those. So we proceeded to actually knock off the entire bottle of tequila," the actor humorously revealed.
The trick seemingly worked for Sheeran, as Crowe noted, "He's texting me at 5 o'clock in the morning... going, 'I feel fine, I got a few hours of sleep and everything. What's the secret?'" before Crowe sagely responded, "Mate, it's the water."