To Sir Elton John, Ed Sheeran is “a dear friend”.
So dear, in fact, that it seems he’s the only person in the world who knows how to say his surname properly.
Yep, there we and the many other millions of people around the world were, naively thinking that you were supposed to pronounce the that double e in his surname. Seemingly not…
Elton wasn’t present at Wednesday night’s BRIT awards, but he was able to record a video message for Ed as he won the Global Success award. Speaking from Las Vegas, where he currently has a residency at Caesar’s Palace, he appeared to come up with a never-heard-before way of saying ‘Sheeran’.
Here, have a listen:
Meanwhile, I'm still cackling at Elton John and Ed Sh'ran #BRITs pic.twitter.com/un5COe65i2
— Ryan Love (@RyanJL) February 21, 2018
Shiran? Sh’ran? We’re really not sure.
As you might expect, the pronunciation was swiftly picked up on by many watching at home, sparking a number of tweets…
Sorry did Elton John just say “Ed Shurran” #BRITS
— Alison Millington (@AL_osaurus) February 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/AlanCarr/status/966429722673664000
I can’t laughing at the way sir Elton john pronounced ed’s surname 😂😂#BRITS2018 #BRITs
— Marie Anthony 🏴🇬🇧 (@mlawelshwoman) February 21, 2018
Ed Shee- Ran. I’m now going to forever pronounce it exactly like Elton John does. #BRITs2018
— Luke (@lukeshepherdson) February 21, 2018
Perhaps the fairest comment on the matter came from Danny Baker, who tweeted this:
I'm seeing that Elton John is trending on Twitter for apparently pronouncing Ed Sheeran's name weird. Well 1) they are friends. and 2) He's Elton John. He can pronounce Ed Sheeran's name any way he fucking wants. Yours too as it happens.
— Danny Baker (@prodnose) February 21, 2018