Old Phone

"Old Phone"
Single by Ed Sheeran
from the album Play
B-side	"Rapture"
Released	1 May 2025 (2025-05-01)
Length	3:41
Label	Gingerbread Man Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Ed Sheeran
Producer(s)	Ed Sheeran Ilya Blake Slatkin
Ed Sheeran singles chronology
"Azizam" (2025) "Old Phone" (2025) "Sapphire" (2025)
Music video
"Old Phone" on YouTube

"Old Phone" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 1 May 2025 by Gingerbread Man and Atlantic Records, as the second single from his eighth studio album, Play. ^[1] The track was written by Sheeran and produced by Sheeran, Ilya Salmanzadeh and Blake Slatkin. ^{[2] [3]} The limited edition 7-inch single includes exclusive bonus track "Rapture". Sheeran performed "Old Phone" during the 2025 European leg of his +−=÷× Tour. The song peaked at numbers 17 in the United Kingdom and 38 in Ireland.

Background

In April 2025, Sheeran launched a new Instagram account to celebrate his upcoming single "Old Phone". ^[4] The account features a number of never-before-seen pictures, texts and lyric notes, a look back through Sheeran's mobile phone that he retired in 2015. ^{[5] [6]} He was inspired to write the new song when revisiting his recovered old phone, after winning the "Thinking Out Loud" copyright lawsuit. ^[2]

Music video

The Emil Nava-directed music video was released on 8 May 2025. ^[7] It features Sheeran's pop-up Ipswich, Massachusetts pub gig (filmed on 28 March 2025), as well as similar locations around the Cape Ann area, and also fans who submitted stories from their past. ^{[8] [9]}

Track listing

• Digital and streaming single ^[10]

1. "Old Phone" – 3:41

• 7-inch single ^[11]

1. "Old Phone" – 3:41
2. "Rapture" – 3:21 (non-album track; written and produced by Sheeran, Blake Slatkin and Omer Fedi)

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. ^[12]

• Ed Sheeran  – songwriting, production, lead vocals, guitar
• Ilya Salmanzadeh  – production, keyboards, backing vocals, programming, engineering
• Blake Slatkin  – production, keyboards, backing vocals, programming, engineering
• Beoga  – banjo, piano, strings
• Pino Palladino  – bass
• Davide Rossi  – cello, viola, violin, strings arranger
• Gautam Sharma – dhol, percussion, tambourine
• Lemar Carter – drums
• Ganesh Murali – ghatam, tambourine
• Jayesh Kathak – güiro, khartal, shaker, tambourine
• Dylan Day – guitar
• Tapas Ray – mandolin
• Elvira Anderfjärd  – backing vocals
• Graham Archer – engineering
• Jeremy Lertola – engineering
• Michael Harris – engineering
• Mark "Spike" Stent  – mixing
• Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing engineer
• Matt Wolach – assistant mixing engineer
• Stuart Hawkes – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Old Phone" Chart (2025) Peak position Argentina Anglo Airplay (Monitor Latino) [13] 8 Australia Digital Tracks (ARIA) [14] 4 Bolivia Anglo Airplay (Monitor Latino) [15] 6 Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [16] 60 Canada Hot AC ( Billboard ) [17] 40 Croatia International Airplay (Top lista) [18] 13 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100) [19] 25 Global 200 ( Billboard ) [20] 75 Ireland (IRMA) [21] 38 Japan Hot Overseas ( Billboard ) [22] 5 Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20) [23] 6 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit) [24] 24 Netherlands (Single Tip) [25] 4 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) [26] 5 North Macedonia Airplay (Radiomonitor) [27] 7 Norway (VG-lista) [28] 54 Paraguay Anglo Airplay (Monitor Latino) [29] 10 Romania Airplay (TopHit) [30] 82 South Korea BGM (Circle) [31] 50 South Korea Download (Circle) [32] 91 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [33] 62 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [34] 61 UK Singles (OCC) [35] 17 US Billboard Hot 100 [36] 89 US Adult Pop Airplay ( Billboard ) [37] 35 Venezuela (Record Report) [38] 41 Venezuela Anglo Airplay (Monitor Latino) [39] 2

Monthly charts Monthly chart performance for "Old Phone" Chart (2025) Peak position Lithuania Airplay (TopHit) [40] 62 Romania Airplay (TopHit) [41] 90

Release history

Release history for "Old Phone"

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref.
Various	1 May 2025	Digital download streaming	Original	Gingerbread Man Atlantic	[10]
	11 July 2025	7-inch			[11]

References

1. Horowitz, Steven J. (1 May 2025). "Ed Sheeran Announces New Album 'Play', Releases Single 'Old Phone'". Variety . Retrieved 26 May 2025.
2. Smith, Thomas (29 April 2025). "Ed Sheeran Launches Nostalgic Instagram Account With Never-Before-Seen Photos Ahead of 'Old Phone' Single Release". Billboard . Retrieved 2 May 2025.
3. Williams, Sophie (1 May 2025). "Ed Sheeran Reveals New Album's Release Date, Calls 'Play' a 'Response to the Darkest Period of My Life'". Billboard. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
4. Blistein, Jon (29 April 2025). "Ed Sheeran Dumps Photos From Old Phone Before Dropping New Song 'Old Phone'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 26 May 2025.
5. Singh, Surej (30 April 2025). "Ed Sheeran unveils archival Instagram account ahead of new single 'Old Phone', including decade-old photos with Taylor Swift, Elton John and more". NME . Retrieved 26 May 2025.
6. Dunworth, Liberty (1 May 2025). "Ed Sheeran announces 'Play' release date and shares nostalgic single 'Old Phone'". NME . Retrieved 26 May 2025.
7. Conteh, Mankaprr (8 May 2025). "Ed Sheeran Builds an 'Old Phone' Pub for Small New England Town in New Video". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 26 May 2025.
8. Kaufman, Gil (8 May 2025). "Ed Sheeran Gets Nostalgic Diving Into His 'Old Phone' In Music Video Featuring Pop-Up Ipswich Pub Gig". Billboard. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
9. Juul, Matt (8 May 2025). "Ipswich community is the star of Ed Sheeran's new music video - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe . Retrieved 26 May 2025.
10. "Play - Album". Apple Music . Retrieved 16 May 2025.
11. "Old Phone 7" single". store.edsheeran.com. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
12. "Old Phone / Ed Sheeran". Tidal. 1 May 2025. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
13. "Top 20 Argentina Anglo – Del 25 de Junio al 1 de Julio, 2025" (in Spanish). Monitor Latino. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
14. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 12 May 2025". The ARIA Report. No. 1836. Australian Recording Industry Association. 12 May 2025. p. 9.
15. "Top 20 Bolivia Anglo – Del 25 de Junio al 1 de Julio, 2025" [Top 20 Bolivia English – June 25 to July 1, 2025] (in Spanish). Monitor Latino. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
16. "Ed Sheeran Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
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25. "Ed Sheeran - Old Phone". Dutch Single Top 100 . Retrieved 9 May 2025.
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28. "Ed Sheeran – Old Phone". VG-lista. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
29. "Top 20 Paraguay – Anglo – Del 30 de Junio al 6 de Julio, 2025" [Top 20 Paraguay – English – June 30 to July 6, 2025] (in Spanish). Monitor Latino. 7 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
30. "Top Radio Hits Romania Weekly Chart: Jun 12, 2025". TopHit. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
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33. "Ed Sheeran – Old Phone". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
34. "Ed Sheeran – Old Phone". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
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37. "Ed Sheeran Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
38. "Top 100 – Record Report" (in Spanish). Record Report. 31 May 2025. Archived from the original on 29 May 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
39. "Top 20 Venezuela Anglo – Del 25 de Junio al 1 de Julio, 2025" [Top 20 Venezuela Anglo – June 25 to July 1, 2025] (in Spanish). Monitor Latino. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
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