Ed Sheeran has opened up about his inspiration behind hit Formula One song Drive.
The 34-year-old teamed up with Dave Grohl and John Mayer on the track, which also features the iconic opening of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love.
During a chat with Variety, the Shape of Your singer shared, “I sent a voice note to Blake which was essentially the chorus mumbled. I wanted it to sound like an engine starting. We wanted it to make it feel in the zone of very riffed-based ‘70s rock music.”
Ed’s producing partner Blake Slatkin brought him the project, and Ed leaned into the film’s theme by wanting the song to sound “like an engine starting.”
Blake chimed in, “People don’t know that Ed can rock like this. We had so many times when we were making music…but it never really fit the record.”
Ed continued, “It needs to have this riff to start off with. The drums need to come in at this point. The chorus needs to come at this point. You’re singing vowels and words form themselves in those points. When you have bullet points of lines from the film, that will actually make up lyrics of the song.”
On the work front, the pop icon released new album Play in September.
