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Ed Sheeran ‘The Afterglow’: Release date, announcements, pre-buzz and all you need to know about his new single

Sheerios went into meltdown after a fan posted a theory about his comeback, which Sheeran hasn't outright denied

The world certainly felt a lot emptier when the 'Shape of You' singer Ed Sheeran announced a hiatus back in December last year. We can understand how quiet it was, considering how busy and how massively successful he was during the past decade. But it looks like a year's break was sufficient enough to get him returning to making music (no complaints here).

The English singer-songwriter of Irish descent may have a brand-new single coming up, titled 'The Afterglow'. Here's what we know so far:

Release date

If we're banking on the rumors circulating online, 'The Afterglow' will premiere on UK radio stations at 6 am ET on December 21. Whether it receives US airplay or not is unclear, but watch this space for more details in the future.

Announcements

According to an announcement on the official Twitter account of Power Radio, Sheeran's new track is confirmed with its premiere date. "Ed Sheeran is back with new single titled ‘The Afterglow’ and it will hit radio stations at 6 am ET on December 21st!" Power Radio wrote on Twitter on December 19. Check out the announcement below.

Pre-buzz

Furthermore "ED SHEERAN IS COMING" has also begun trending on Twitter. According to a recent article by The Sun, Sheeran also dropped a hint that he is returning to music "soon." Sheerios went into meltdown after a fan posted a theory about his comeback, which Sheeran didn't outright deny. However, regarding 'The Afterglow', the singer has made no official announcement so far.

"Okay so here are my thoughts about subtract and Ed coming back," the fan began his theory. "One big question is whether Ed's 18 month break started at the end of the divide tour or when he posted the note. If it's August 2019, it's very plausible that Ed'll be back on Christmas Eve, 'cause we all know that's when he posted his note last year."

The fan continued to raise significant points and brought up Sheeran's highly anticipated new album 'Subtract':

"[Manager Stuart Camp] said in the podcast that subtract is probably gonna come out around August 2021. If they're still planning on releasing it then, I just see no point in Ed already coming back in December." The fan continued, "If his break started after his note, it would normally end in June 2021. This just makes way more sense to me: he comes back in June with the lead single(s), release maybe one or two more singles in July (and August) and then puts out subtract in August."

Sheeran didn't answer any of those speculations, but he did point out their validity and said, "All very valid questions, but you'll know at least one answer soon x."

Hiatus

Sheeran officially announced his hiatus in December last year on Instagram. In a statement, he wrote, “The Divide era and tour changed my life in so many ways, but now it’s all over it’s time to go out and see more of the world." He continued, “I’ve been a bit non stop since 2017, so I’m just gonna take a breather to travel, write and read,” and noted he’d “be off all social media until it’s time to come back.”

Since then, his social media has been at a near standstill, barring one Instagram post in September. In the post, he revealed that he and his wife Cherry welcomed their baby daughter, Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran. At the time, he noted, "Both mum and baby are doing amazing and we are on cloud nine over here. We hope that you can respect our privacy at this time. Lots of love and I’ll see you when it’s time to come back, Ed x." Check out the full post here.