Singer’s Ted Lasso song “A Beautiful Game” awarded Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics, putting Sheeran halfway to EGOT status
Like “Weird Al” Yankovic, Ed Sheeran won his first-ever Primetime Emmy Award Saturday as his Ted Lasso track “A Beautiful Game” was named Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics. With the singer abroad for an upcoming tour — and thus missing the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony — Sheeran turned to social media to deliver his acceptance speech of sorts.
“We won an Emmy last night,” Sheeran wrote. “I was not expecting to win at all, it was a real real surprise waking up to the news, I wish I had been there but I’m just about to kick off the Asia tour so had to be elsewhere sadly.”
Sheeran continued, “I wrote a song for Ted Lasso with Max Martin and [Foy Vance] called ‘A Beautiful Game’. We were all fans of the show and got asked to do a song for the finale, so 2 years ago this month we got in together and wrote a song about love and football, and how it is always about the journey rather than the destination. I recorded a crowd at one of my stadium shows for it singing the final chant to keep it in the footie wibes.”
“A Beautiful Game” defeated artists like “Weird Al” Yankovic (“Now You Know”), Lili Hadyn, and Sam Ryder (for fellow Ted Lasso track “Fought & Lost”) to earn Sheeran the Emmy, with the singer now halfway to the EGOT; he’s previously won four Grammys — including Song of the Year for “Thinking Out Loud” — with a potential fifth Grammy in play at the 2024 awards.
“It was up against some fantastic artists and songs in its Emmy category for Best Original Music and Lyrics, hence not thinking we had a chance in hell of winning, but thank you so much for whoever voted for it, and to Max, Foy and all the Lasso crew,” Sheeran added. “I really am honoured.”