Ed Sheeran has announced he’s taking a break from gigs for 18 months

Ed Sheeran’s Divide tour is officially done, and it lasted more than two years. Now that it’s all finished up, Sheeran is taking an 18 month break from the gig biz.

Officially becoming the highest grossing music tour of all time, Sheeran’s The Divide Tour has ended with a sizable U.S. $776.2 million from the box office according to Billboard. The tour was made up of 245 shows and lasted from March 16, 2017 to August 26, 2019.

That’s a lot of work, not only for Sheeran himself but his expansive touring team. Sheeran recently took to Instagram to announce an 18 month hiatus, as well as taking some time to thank everyone.

View this post on Instagram

9 million people, 893 days, 46 countries, 175 cities, 260 shows, 268 touring crew, 193265 miles travelled, 2 broken arms, 3 marriages, 4 babies. What a wild ride this Divide tour has been. The whole process of writing the album starting in 2015, then recording it in 2016, promoting it, setting out on the road to play it for all of you guys. It’s so weird to put it to bed and move on. Thank you to everyone involved in this whole Divide process, all the people who helped make the album, all the people who helped promote the album, all the fans who listened and came to watch, this wouldn’t be possible without you. Most of all I want to thank my fantastic touring team, who have given up their lives for 2 and a half years to help me achieve my dreams. Thank you for all of your hard work and constant friendship. The Divide tour – 2017 -2019. Officially the biggest tour of all time, so weird to say that, and we survived it !

A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos) on Aug 28, 2019 at 8:47am PDT

Sheeran’s prolonged tour saw him visit 175 cities in 46 countries, traveling a total of 193,265 miles, his final show endearingly took place in his hometown in England, Ipswich.

It was this final show where Sheeran announced his break. At Chantry Park, Sheeran stated that:

“As you may or not know, I’ve been on the Divide tour for over two years now and this is the last day of the whole thing.

There is something very bittersweet about it. I love that you guys are here and we are ending it in Ipswich. This is my last gig for probably 18 months.”

The Divide Tour also coincided with an album of the same name. Divide was Sheeran’s third studio album and was released in 2017, lining up with his tour. Also during the tour, Sheeran released his fourth album No.6 Collaborations Project.

This latest album saw the star collab with the likes of Cardi B, Travis Scott and Chance the Rapper.

According to Billboard, the success of Sheeran’s mega-long Divide tour was due to the blistering pace of each show and the relatively low ticket costs. He had 111 shows before the end of 2017, moving though North and South America, Europe and Asia. It’s also reported that his ticket prices averaged at U.S. $83.50, with prices going up to U.S. $89.32 average by 2018’s end.

Sheeran, always known for his down-to-earth charm, finished his Instagram post with thanking his team most of all:

“Thank you for all of your hard work and constant friendship. The Divide tour – 2017 -2019. Officially the biggest tour of all time, so weird to say that, and we survived it!”