And he added to that unofficial title by helping a childhood friend hit the big time.
Sheeran featured a song written by his friend Amy Wadge.
She was having money problems when he was wrapping his second album, and she asked if he would add a song that she had written when she was 17, The Mirror reported.
Wadge needed the cash to pay the mortgage and other bills.
That song was "Thinking Out Loud," The Mirror reported.
It didn’t just help Wadge pay a few bills. The song has been streamed more than a half-billion times on Spotify and went three times platinum in the UK.
“She’s got a family and two kids and stuff, and every time I speak to her, she’s going on holiday. It’s really nice to see. It wouldn’t have happened if she hadn't come down from Wales to see me,” Sheeran said.
“I’m not going to lie and say things hadn’t got financially difficult. My publishing advance had run out and I wasn’t seeing my family at all,” Wadge said.
