Ed Sheeran announces fresh hiatus from music and social media, his second break in 4 years

The record-breaking singer had a bumper year and is rewarding himself with a well-deserved vacation.

UPDATED DEC 25, 2019

Ed Sheeran attends the UK Premiere of 'Yesterday' on June 18, 2019, in London. (Getty Images)

Barely two days after releasing a new music video for his latest single 'Put It All On Me', Ed Sheeran decided that he needed to put in a lot more "me" time for himself. The singer took to social media on Tuesday, December 24, to announce that he's taking a much-needed (and well-deserved) break to "go out and see some more of the world."

He also changed his Instagram account's profile picture to display the acronym "BRB", which stands for "be right back."

"Hello all. Gonna go on another break again," read the popstar's post on Instagram. “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 some more of the world.”

Sheeran went on to admit that things had been a bit frenetic of late. "I’ve been a bit non-stop since 2017 so I’m just gonna take a breather to travel, write and read. I’ll be off social media until it’s time to come back."

The 'Shape of You' singer also had a few words for his loyal army of followers. “To my family and friends, see ya when I see ya -- and to my fans, thank you for always being amazing, I promise to be back with some new music when the time is right and I’ve lived a little more to actually have something to write about. Lots of love x." Well, the good news is that he did mention he'd be writing more. Fans should be happy about that!

Ed Sheeran performs on stage at Mt Smart Stadium on March 24, 2018, in Auckland, New Zealand. (Getty Images)

And this isn't even the first time that Sheeran has taken a break from being in the spotlight constantly. In October 2015, the singer announced that he'd be cutting out social media for the foreseeable future and then returned a year later with his chart-topping third album, 'Divide' (÷), which finished the year as the most popular album of 2017, according to Nielsen Music.

Sheeran, who has taken the pop world by storm since 2011, enjoyed yet another successful year in 2019. He notched up a third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with his 'No. 6 Collaborations Project' that featured an all-star-ensemble cast, and even broke Billboard records for his latest Divide Tour. Here's hoping that once he's refreshed and recharged sufficiently, the singer will be back to writing smash hits in no time!