Ed Sheeran revealed that a song on his new album Play almost became another big collaboration with Justin Bieber.
During an interview on SiriusXM’s The Morning Mash Up on September 24, Sheeran said his track Camera was first written for his album = and later turned into a duet with Bieber for Bieber’s Justice album. However, that version was never released. Sheeran still has a recording with Bieber, but for now it “just exists in the ether.”
“I wrote it for = and then it ended up being a duet with Justin Bieber for Justice, and then it never materialized,” Sheeran said. “I’ve got a version with Justin on it. It’s pretty cool, but it just exists in the ether. “Now it’s out. I think people like it,” he added of “Camera.”
Sheeran and Bieber have worked together twice before: they co-wrote Bieber’s 2015 hit Love Yourself and teamed up again in 2019 for I Don’t Care on Sheeran’s No.6 Collaborations Project.
Explaining the meaning of Camera, Sheeran shared that it’s about how many of life’s best moments aren’t caught on video—and how that can make them feel even more special. He said memories like proposing to his wife are vivid in his mind and might have felt different if they’d been filmed.
Another song on Play, Old Phone, carries a similar theme of nostalgia. Inspired by turning on his old phone for the first time in years, it took Sheeran on an emotional trip through old messages and photos, some from friends who have since passed away.
Sheeran hopes these songs remind listeners of the beauty of memory and the value of moments that live only in the heart, not on a camera roll.
