Ed Sheeran

The jury determined that heirs of 'Let's Get It On' songwriter Ed Townsend had not proven that Sheeran, his label Warner Music Group and his music publisher Sony Music Publishing had infringed their copyright interest in the Gaye song.

Reuters reports Sheeran hugged his attorneys in the courtroom after the verdict was read.

When asked if what would happen if he loses the trial yesterday, Sheeran gave an emphatic answer from the witness stand.

“If that happens, I’m done – I’m stopping,” the New York Post reports Sheeran said. “I find it really insulting to work my whole life as a singer-songwriter and diminish it.”

It comes as Sheeran said he's heard from other singers since the trial began last week because they share his worries about litigation resulting from their songwriting.

Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, the star said he had dealt with depression "throughout my life" and felt the feelings resurface last year.

"You're under the waves drowning. You're just sort of in this thing. And you can't get out of it."

He worried his thoughts were "selfish", given that he is a parent to two girls.

"Especially as a father, I feel really embarrassed about it," the 32-year-old said.

Sheeran credited his wife, Cherry Seaborn, with encouraging him to seek help.

It has been released on Edwards' music platform SBTV, on which Sheeran rose to fame more than 10 years ago.

BBC reports Edwards was a lifelong fan of Chelsea FC, with the video for the track filmed at the team's Stamford Bridge stadium.

The DJ and entrepreneur's mum, Brenda Edwards, has also been raising awareness of her son's death by campaigning for more CPR training.

CPR is cardiopulmonary resuscitation and should be administered if someone is unconscious or not breathing properly.

The star also had the most-played song of the year with Bad Habits.

It's the fourth time in five years that Sheeran has been named the UK's most-played artist, calculated by plays on radio, TV, pubs, clubs and shops.

The singer last topped the most-played song chart in 2017 with Shape Of You, over which he recently won a High Court copyright case.

Sheeran's continued success is "a testament to the quality of his output [and] the strength of UK music at a time when the global music landscape is more competitive than ever," said PPL chief executive Peter Leatham.

Sheeran previously announced the + - = ÷ x Tour (pronounced The Mathematics Tour) would make it to NZ in February 2023.

The Bad Habits singer has today added an extra show at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on Wednesday, February 1, ahead of Thursday’s sold out gig.

Eden Park in Auckland hosts an additional show on Saturday, February 11, following the sold out set the night before.

Sheeran then heads to Australia for a series of stadium concerts across the Tasman.

A judge ruled on Wednesday that the singer-songwriter had not plagiarised the 2015 song 'Oh Why' by Sami Chokri.

Chokri, a grime artist who performs under the name Sami Switch, had claimed the "Oh I" hook in Sheeran's track was "strikingly similar" to an "Oh why" refrain in his own track.

After the ruling, Sheeran said such "baseless" claims "are way too common".

In a video on social media, he said there was now a culture "where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there's no basis for the claim".

The star has been accused of copying part of the song from another artist.

In closing arguments, grime artist Sami Chokri's barrister said there was an "indisputable similarity between the works". But Mr Sheeran's lawyer said the case against him was "so strained as to be logically unintelligible".

Mr Justice Zacaroli said he would "take some time to consider my judgment".

The 11-day trial ended on Tuesday. Ian Mill QC, representing Mr Sheeran, said it had been "deeply traumatising" for the star and his co-writers, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac.

Sami Chokri says he was hurt by the tone of Sheeran's lawyers' emails after he noticed similarities between his song Oh Why and Sheeran's Shape Of You.

"I feel like I've been robbed by someone I respect, or respected," he told the court.

"This is years of a cloud over my head. All I heard and read was emails belittling me and my questions."

He continued: "All I wanted to do was ask for an explanation. If I'd had one we wouldn't have had to go through with this rubbish."

He later called the trial "the most horrible few weeks of my life".

Tributes flooded in earlier this week, after news broke of the death of the influential 31-year-old.

Posting on Instagram on Wednesday evening, Brit Award-winner Sheeran said he "would not be here without him".

"Jamal is my brother," wrote Sheeran, alongside a picture of the two of them.

"His light shone so bright."

Sheeran added that Edwards, who also helped to launch the careers of stars like Dave, Skepta and Jessie J, "only used it to illuminate others and never asked for anything in return".