"Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran from his second album, × (2014). The song was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge and produced by Jake Gosling, a regular partner of Sheeran. It was released in the United States on August 8, 2014, as the album's third single.
In the United Kingdom, the song remained in the top 40 for 19 weeks before reaching number one in early November 2014. This made it Sheeran's second number-one single in the UK. The song also reached number one in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Thailand, Slovakia, and South Africa. It peaked at number two on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100. It was Sheeran's highest-charting single in North America until "Shape of You" reached number one in both countries in 2017.
In June 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" became the first single to spend a full year in the UK top 40. In September 2015, it became the seventh single to earn triple platinum certification in the UK during the 21st century. In October 2015, the song reached 500 million streams on Spotify. It is also one of the most streamed songs in the UK and had been viewed more than 3.9 billion times on YouTube as of September 2025.
"Thinking Out Loud" was nominated for Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards. It won the last two categories.
Background and writing
Ed Sheeran wrote the song "Thinking Out Loud" with Amy Wadge, a singer-songwriter from Wales. They met when Sheeran was 17 years old and have written several songs together since then. Five of these songs were included in an album called Songs I Wrote with Amy, which Sheeran released independently on April 4, 2010. Wadge also helped write the song "Gold Rush," which appears on the deluxe version of Sheeran's first album, + (2011).
In February 2014, Wadge visited Sheeran at his home for a casual visit. At that time, Sheeran was nearly finished recording his second studio album, ×. Wadge explained that her visit was not planned for writing songs. While Sheeran was showering, Wadge played some guitar chords. The sound caught Sheeran’s attention, and he ran downstairs. He suggested working on the melody later, after returning from dinner. The melody began with a simple guitar riff, which Sheeran said he created in a style similar to Van Morrison, an Irish musician who has influenced him since childhood.
At 2:00 a.m. on February 4, 2014, Sheeran and Wadge started writing "Thinking Out Loud" in the kitchen. They completed the song in 20 minutes. Wadge said the lyrics were inspired by discussions about "everlasting love" and the feelings they shared at that time. Sheeran also mentioned that the lyrics were inspired by his girlfriend at the time, Athina Andrelos, whom he met in early 2014. He later said he wrote the song during a very happy time in his relationship. He also thought about his grandparents and the idea of lasting love, which is reflected in the lyrics ("'til we're 70"). The original chorus was "I'm singing out now," but it later changed to "I'm thinking out loud."
After writing the song, Sheeran recorded it on his phone. He wanted to include "Thinking Out Loud" on his second album. The next day, he recorded the song properly at Sticky Studios, a recording studio in the small village of Windlesham, Surrey. He told Wadge that the song would be the last one recorded for the album. For the song, Sheeran worked with Jake Gosling, who had previously produced tracks on his first album and contributed four songs to the standard version of the second album.
Composition
"Thinking Out Loud" is a romantic ballad influenced by the musical style of blue-eyed soul. Ed Sheeran called it a "walking down the aisle song," meaning it is often associated with weddings. According to Eric Clarke, a professor of music at the University of Oxford, the lyrics describe themes such as growing older, staying faithful in a relationship, and love in a traditional way.
The song was written in the key of D major and has a tempo of 79 beats per minute. Ed Sheeran's vocal range spans from the note B2 to A4. In the recording, his voice is unusually loud compared to the instruments. Mike Senior, a writer for the music technology magazine Sound on Sound, noted that this is rare in modern music. He analyzed the vocals and found that, even though some notes are slightly off-key, the overall singing remains in tune.
Journalists compared "Thinking Out Loud" to Marvin Gaye's 1973 song "Let's Get It On." Andrew Unterberger of Spin wrote that the song's bass rhythm and drum style closely resemble Gaye's classic, as do the lyrics about love and the warm, intimate atmosphere. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard described the song as a modern version of the original.
Release
Before the album was released, Sheeran first performed "Thinking Out Loud" on May 24, 2014, on the British music television show Later… with Jools Holland. This performance came after the release of the music video for "Sing," the album's first single. "Thinking Out Loud" was seen as different from "Sing," which is a high-energy song with funk and R&B styles. The song became available for download on June 18, 2014, as an "instant grat" for people who pre-ordered the album on the iTunes Store. It was used as a promotional single for the album, which was released two days later. On the standard version of the album, "Thinking Out Loud" is the second-to-last track, with "Afire Love" being the final track.
"Thinking Out Loud" was first played on Australian radio on August 14, 2014, and officially released on September 24, 2014. It was the third of five singles from the album, following "Sing" and "Don't," which were the first and second singles, respectively. Sheeran mentioned that his record label did not initially want to release "Thinking Out Loud" as a single, preferring "Photograph" as the main single. However, after "Thinking Out Loud" remained in the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart for several weeks, even without regular airplay, it was chosen as the third single. "Photograph" was later released as the fifth and final single from the album.
"Thinking Out Loud" was also released as a 7-inch vinyl record exclusively for Black Friday Record Store Day on November 28, 2014. The vinyl included a B-side track, a live version of "I'm A Mess" performed at the Lightship 95 studio. On December 26, 2015, Sheeran released an Irish-language version of "Thinking Out Loud" for the Irish album CEOL 2016.
Critical reception
Lauren Murphy of The Irish Times wrote that the "injection of blue-eyed soul" in the song is "enjoyable" and that it makes it "difficult to dismiss" Ed Sheeran's ability to create melodies. Jim Beviglia of American Songwriter stated that while "Thinking Out Loud" is "tidy," it feels "less powerful" compared to the more daring and personal songs Sheeran included on the album. Allison Stewart of The Washington Post described the song as a "clear and very effective attempt" to achieve lasting popularity as a wedding song, similar to "I'll Be." Jason Lipshutz of Billboard magazine noted that Sheeran successfully avoids the song's overly sentimental moments, making it a "likable" ending to the album. Jamieson Cox of Time wrote that the album's most impressive moment is placed near the end, referring to "Thinking Out Loud."
Chart performance
"Thinking Out Loud" reached the top of many charts in Europe, Oceania, and South Africa. It also entered the top ten in several countries in North America. When the album was released, the single started at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. On 2 November 2014, "Thinking Out Loud" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in its 19th week in the Top 40. This made it Ed Sheeran's second UK number one and set a record for the longest climb to the top. By 27 June 2015, the song had spent 52 weeks in a row in the UK Top 40. At that time, it had sold and streamed 1.65 million units. It became one of the 161 million-selling singles in the UK and was the 26th best-selling song of the 2010s. On 18 September 2015, the British Phonographic Industry gave the single a triple platinum certification for combined sales and streams of 1.8 million units. As of September 2017, the song had sold 1,219,000 copies and had 130 million streams, totaling 2,521,000 units sold in the UK. In February 2025, its certification was upgraded to octuple platinum, showing sales and streams of over 4.8 million units.
In the United States, "Thinking Out Loud" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, which is the most comprehensive chart. It stayed in the number two spot for eight weeks, a record last seen in 2004. The song was kept from reaching number one by "Uptown Funk," but it outperformed that song for one week in February 2015 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart. The single reached number one on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart for the week ending 21 February 2015, which was Ed Sheeran's first time reaching the top on that chart. For the week ending 21 March 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" led the Billboard Pop Songs, Adult Pop Songs, and Adult Contemporary charts, becoming the fourth song in history to top all three adult charts at the same time. Google Play named "Thinking Out Loud" the top-selling song on its platform to celebrate its fifth anniversary. As of September 2017, the song had sold 5,622,000 copies in the United States, making it Ed Sheeran's best-selling song there.
In the UK, where Ed Sheeran is from, "Thinking Out Loud" set a record for the most streams in a single week in December 2014. It had over 1,638,000 streams that week and later reached a personal best of 1,850,000 streams in the week ending 21 December 2014. This record was later broken by other songs.
In April 2015, the song was the most popular based on 2.8 million sleep-themed playlists created by Spotify users. Spotify noted that sleep is a popular category, often used for relaxation. A Guardian columnist mentioned that the report showed "very popular, slightly mellow songs" appearing on sleep playlists but not a carefully planned list for falling asleep.
In October 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" set a record for the most streams on Spotify, with over 500 million streams. Spotify created the "Sheerio Index," an interactive map showing where Ed Sheeran was most popular. The map used colors to indicate that Denmark was the most popular location for his music. This record was broken a month later by "Lean On," a song by Major Lazer and DJ Snake featuring MØ.
Music video
Emil Nava directed the music video for the single. Most of the video was filmed in the Crystal Ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The video was filmed continuously with a 16 mm film camera.
Unlike earlier music videos where Ed Sheeran was not the main focus, he played a central role in the video for "Thinking Out Loud." In the video, Sheeran performs a contemporary dance with Brittany Cherry, a contestant from the televised American dance competition So You Think You Can Dance. The dance was choreographed by Nappytabs, with training assistance from Paul Karmiryan. During his concert tour, Sheeran practiced with Cherry for five hours each day over three weeks.
The video was released on October 7, 2014. Within the first 24 hours, it had more than 2.7 million views on YouTube. As of September 2025, the video has 3.9 billion views, making it the 28th most viewed video on the site. The music video received four nominations at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year and Best Male Video.
Live performances
On 26 October 2014, Sheeran sang the song during the third live results show of series 11 of The X Factor. He also performed it on 9 November 2014 at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards. Sheeran sang the song as a guest at The Voice’s live finale on 16 December 2014. Additionally, he performed the track on the Christmas Special of The Jonathan Ross Show on 20 December 2014. He also sang the song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards on 8 February 2015 with John Mayer, Questlove, Adam Blackstone, and Herbie Hancock. Sheeran performed "Thinking Out Loud" on 13 April 2015 during the second series of The X Factor in New Zealand. He also sang the song at the 2014 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. On 15 August 2024, Sheeran and Taylor Swift performed "Thinking Out Loud" at Wembley Stadium in London as part of a mashup with their songs "Everything Has Changed" and "End Game" for Swift’s Eras Tour (2023–2024).
Parodies and usage in media
On April 28, 2015, during an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, actor Jeremy Renner, who plays Hawkeye in the Avengers movies, played the piano and sang a song. The song was described by Fallon’s show on YouTube as “Hawkeye Sings About His Super Powers.” The song uses the same melody as a song by Ed Sheeran but does not copy its lyrics. The lyrics mention that Hawkeye feels different from other Avengers because he is the only human in a group of heroes with superhuman abilities or special powers. The lyrics include lines such as: “But listen, I’ve got powers too; they’re pretty sweet. / I promise I can do so much more than just archery… / I can open a pickle jar. / I’m friggin’ Hawkeye. / Maybe I’m as super as they are.”
The song and video were later imitated in the CW series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. In the episode, the song was titled “Let’s Have Intercourse” and performed by Scott Michael Foster. Rachel Bloom appeared in the scene, dancing with Foster in a way similar to how Ed Sheeran and his collaborator danced in the original song. The lyrics in the parody are spoken by Foster’s character, Nathaniel Plimpton III, who is asking the show’s main character, Rebecca Bunch (played by Rachel Bloom), to have sex while they are stuck in an elevator.
Plagiarism allegations
On August 10, 2016, the family of Ed Townsend, who helped write Marvin Gaye's song "Let's Get It On," said they were suing Ed Sheeran. They claimed that the song "Thinking" has similar melodies, harmonies, and rhythms to the drum part in "Let's Get It On." The case was closed without a decision in February 2017. Two years later, on June 28, 2018, Structured Asset Sales, which owns one-third of the copyright to "Let's Get It On," sued Sheeran for $100 million. This case was tried by a jury in New York City in 2023, and the jury ruled in favor of Sheeran.
Sheeran's defense argued that while "Thinking" and "Let's Get It On" share some musical elements, such as certain chord progressions, these are common in many pop songs. After winning the trial, Sheeran said, "These chords are common musical elements used in songs long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will continue to be used in the future."
In June 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review the case, ending the legal dispute.
Credits and personnel
Credits taken from the album liner notes:
- Ed Sheeran – vocals, songwriter, acoustic guitar
- Chris Leonard – electric guitar, Hammond organ, bass
- Peter Gosling – piano
- Jake Gosling – producer, keyboards, music programming, drums, percussion
- Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
- Stuart Hawkes – mastering
Cover versions
Canadian country singer Chad Brownlee recorded a version of the song and released it as a single in 2015. He also released a video showing him performing the song.
Country music artist Clay Walker recorded a version of "Thinking Out Loud" for his first album in nine years. The album, titled Long Live the Cowboy, was released on January 21, 2019.
American singer and songwriter Taylor Dayne recorded the song for her 2024 EP called The Capitol Sessions. The song was released as the first single from the EP in October 2023.