“Thinking Out Loud” is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran recorded for his second studio album, × (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and is one of the most successful songs of Sheeran’s entire career. It reached number one on the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, Philippines, Thailand, Slovakia and South Africa – it also reached number two in Canada and the United States. A year after its release, it became the first song ever to be streamed on Spotify more than 500 million times.
The song would go on to win the Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance Awards at the Grammy’s in 2016. It would also be the third best performing song in the UK charts for the entire 2010s decade, and the sixth best in the Australian charts. The song is fairly conventional musically and lyrically, with a chord progression reminiscent of that in Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”.
