Ed Sheeran has been asking fans to “text in song recommendations” for him to play on his 2026 ‘Loop Tour’.
- READ MORE: Ed Sheeran – ‘Play’ review: a hasty retreat to the genre-spanning of old
The singer-songwriter is currently out on a run of huge stadium shows in New Zealand and Australia, in support of his latest album ‘Play’.
He kicked off the tour with two concerts at the Go Media Stadium in Auckland last Friday and Saturday (January 16, 17).
Ahead of the first gig, Sheeran took to Instagram to explain a portion of the show in which he would be performing various fan requests.
“So tomorrow, if you are at the gig, there will be a big thing on the screen before it begins where it will say, ‘Text in song recommendations’,” Sheeran said.
“There’s five slots in the gig, where I’ll play any song that you guys decide. So whatever song you wanna hear at the gig, go look at the screen, text it, and it’ll basically tally up the songs, and I will play those songs.”
The musician went on to suggest that ticketholders should dig deep into his catalogue when making their selections, concluding: “Whatever the song, I’ll learn it before the show. I’m prepared, so surprise me.”
5 songs of our choice
byu/FreddyTSGamer inEdSheeran
The first night in Auckland then saw Sheeran play four fan-requested cuts from a B-stage in the stadium. These were 2011’s ‘Little Bird’, early track ‘Sofa’ from his 2010 EP ‘Loose Change’ (first performance since 2013), 2014’s ‘Tenerife Sea’ and 2017’s ‘Supermarket Flowers’ (via Setlist.FM)
Bookending the song recommendation set on both evenings were 2023’s ‘Eyes Closed’ and 2011’s ‘Give Me Love’.
For the second gig, Sheeran dusted off the fan-picked selections ‘Lego House’ (2011), ‘A Little More’ (2025), ‘Kiss Me’ (2011) and ‘The City’ (2011).
Check out the fan-shot footage here:
#ESLoopTourAKL1 Tenerife sea pic.twitter.com/82rqx1Wu0B
— Haydon Appleton (@HaydonTDG) January 16, 2026
Before bringing ‘Sofa’ back to the setlist, Sheeran told the audience: “I played it on the ‘+’ tour in 2011 or 2012 – around that time. So it’s like 15 years since I played this song. Whoever requested it – ’cause there was a fair few of you – I hope you enjoy it.
“There will be a lot of people in this audience that may not even have heard the song, but this is a song called ‘Sofa’ from 2008.”
Sheeran’s 2026 ‘Loop Tour’ is scheduled to resume in Wellington on Wednesday (January 21), ahead of further shows in Christchurch, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide. He’ll then head to South America and North America later this year.
In other news, Sheeran recently played his single ‘Drive’ on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with an all-star band featuring Dave Grohl, John Mayer and more.
The F1 track has been shortlisted for the Oscars 2026’s Best Original Song, alongside cuts by the likes of Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails, KPop Demon Hunters and Miley Cyrus.
Meanwhile, Sheeran said last month that he feels like he and Taylor Swift are “siblings”. He also commented on the pop star’s previous claims that he is “the James Taylor to my Carole King”.
