Ed Sheeran has revealed how Eminem cured his childhood stutter.

The singer, 32, developed the speech disorder from a traumatising incident which haunted him and it was the rapper’s Slim Shady album which helped him find his voice.

Ed began to struggle with his speech after medics once forgot to numb his face while lasering off a birthmark near his eye.

The Don’t hitmaker had already had several sessions to remove the mark, but said the pain was so unbearable in this one instance, it impacted his ability to speak.

‘One day, they forgot to put the anaesthetic on, and ever since then, I had a stutter,’ Ed said during a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show.

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Finding his voice: Ed Sheeran has revealed how Eminem cured his childhood stutter

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Touching: The singer, 32, developed the speech disorder from a traumatising incident which haunted him – and it was the rapper’s Slim Shady album which helped him find his voice

It was Ed’s uncle who first introduced him to rapping after he bought him Eminem’s CD when he was nine, and it helped cure his stammer.

‘I was going through all sorts of speech therapy,’ Ed said.  ‘When I was 9, my uncle bought me The Marshall Mathers LP. He just said to my dad, “This guy’s the next Bob Dylan”.

‘My dad didn’t really clock it, he’s just like, “OK, Edward’s going to go and listen to that”.

‘By learning that record and rapping it back to back to back to back, it cured my stutter,’ he told the host.

After propelling to fame with the hit A-Team, Ed formed a friendship with the rapper and they have collaborated on three songs together.

‘I think it’s different with Eminem because he is quite reclusive, doesn’t see or meet that many people,’ he said.

‘I’ve known him now six years and we’ve done three songs together, I’ve played with him twice on stage. He’s another person I really relate to, as he lives in his hometown still and has his ecosystem around him.’

Ed added there have been many pinch me moments of his career and recounted one time in 2020 when they performed his 2000 song Stan at Eminem’s Rock and Roll Hall induction ceremony.

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Tough: Ed began to struggle with his speech after medics once forgot to numb his face while lasering off a birthmark near his eye (pictured with his Irish grandmother Anne Mary)

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Look at him now: After propelling to fame with the hit A-Team, Ed formed a friendship with the rapper and they have collaborated on three songs together (pictured in 2022)

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Congratulations: Ed’s latest album Subtract topped the UK music charts last week following a backdrop of challenging life events

Ed Sheeran opens up about new album in interview with Apple Music

The singer was filming a music video at the time when was asked if he could perform over in the US.

He said: ‘I can’t say no. I can’t. So, I got a plane straight after my music video, flew there for the song, and then that night flew back. It was really worth it.’

Ed’s latest album Subtract topped the UK music charts last week following a backdrop of challenging life events.

The singer-songwriter’s sixth studio album, went straight to number 1, extending his ‘flawless run of chart-topping albums’, the Official Charts Company said.

Subtract was written during a difficult year which saw his wife Cherry Seaborn diagnosed with a tumour while pregnant, the death of his close friend Jamal Edwards and a copyright battle over his 2017 hit Shape Of You.

The record is the fastest-selling album of 2023 so far, shifting 76,000 chart units in its opening week, with nearly three-quarters made up of physical copies, it was also the best-selling vinyl album of the week.

Ed has said he used the album to channel the intense emotions which emerged from this difficult time, describing the songwriting process as his ‘therapy’.