Ed Sheeran Says Taylor Swift Is the "Carole King To His James Taylor"

Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift may be global superstars, but Sheeran says their relationship feels far more personal than professional. In a new Hollywood Reporter podcast interview released Monday, the singer described his friendship with Swift as the kind of bond you’d find between siblings, not celebrities.

He explained that, despite growing up in different countries and living very different lives, the two share a deep creative connection. Sheeran agreed with Swift’s longtime comparison of their partnership to Carole King and James Taylor, saying their artistic chemistry is something that always snaps back into place when they see each other.

Their friendship dates back to the early 2010s, when they wrote “Everything Has Changed” together—famously crafting the song while bouncing around on a trampoline in Swift’s backyard. Over the years, Swift has spoken fondly about their relationship, telling Rolling Stone in 2017 that they exchanged handmade Christmas gifts, took family trips, and even adopted matching Scottish Fold cats. She said Sheeran was her “James Taylor,” someone she expected to have in her life permanently.

Swift recently echoed those feelings on The Tonight Show. After she got engaged to Travis Kelce, she joked that she forgot to notify Sheeran simply because he doesn’t own a phone, and the news went public before she realized she hadn’t told him.

Sheeran later shared that they spent four hours catching up once he found out, adding in a separate Access Hollywoodinterview that their long-standing friendship is effortless. “We’ve known each other for so long,” he said. “Whenever we meet up, we just pick up exactly where we left off.”