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Ed Sheeran is one of the biggest stars in music these days. His last tour in 2023 even beat Taylor Smith's and Beyoncé's attendance records on several dates.
But don't count rock legend Rod Stewart among his fans. Stewart is under fire from Sheeran's devotees for his hot take on the singer.
After saying he doesn't know any of Sheeran's music, Stewart referred to the singer by one of the funniest pejoratives ever uttered in the English language: "Old ginger bollocks."
The dust-up began when the UK's The Times asked Stewart which artists of today he thinks will make a long-standing impact on the music world.
Struggling to remember the name of the artist he wanted to cite, he said:
“I like what’s-his-name. Oh f*cking great, Rod. Well done. He’s British, really talented, and his songs will be around.”
When the interviewer suggested Stewart might be thinking of Sheeran, Stewart quickly set him straight.
“No, not Ed, I don’t know any of his songs, old ginger bollocks. Jesus.”
After humming a bit of the song he was thinking of, the interviewer soon deduced Stewart was thinking of fellow Brit George Ezra, who's song "Shotgun" Stewart said he loves.
Stewart had very different take on Ezra than on Sheeran:
“I think he writes really tremendous songs. He’ll be around for quite a while.”
As you might expect, Sheeran's fans—and there a lot of them—didn't take kindly to Stewart's two cents on "old ginger bollocks."
@PopBase Let\u2019s compare his sales to shape of you— (@)
Others didn't have a dog in the fight but simply found Stewart's take hilarious.
@PopBase why are british ppl insults so funny \u201cold ginger bollocks\u201d taking me out— (@)
"Old ginger bollocks" or no, Sheeran is certainly one of the most successful music artists of recent years. His song "Shape of You" is currently the second most-listened to song in the entire world on Spotify.