Ed Sheeren received a recognition from the American Institute for Stuttering during the institution's Free Voices Changing Lives Benefit Gala in New York on Monday. In his acceptance speech, the 24-year-old "Thinking Out Loud" singer shared his struggle and victory from being a stutter.
Sheeran was a self-confessed stutter. In his speech, he shared that what makes it very difficult for him is knowing what he wants to say, but having limitations to express it in a manner that will be more understandable to the people he is conversing with.
Sheeran also discussed about the children's insecurities by telling them his difficult experiences when he was younger.
"I was a very, very weird child. I had a port-wine stain birthmark on my face that I got lasered off when I was very young; one day, they forgot to put the anesthetic on, and ever since then, I had a stutter," Sheeran said.
"I also had very big, blue NHS glasses - NHS is the National Health Service, one day I hope you'll have the same! And I lacked an eardrum on one side of my ear, so stuttering was actually the least of my problems!" he added, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The singer revealed he tried speech therapy and homeopathy but to no avail. Interestingly, he overcame his predicament with the help of rap music. It started when his uncle Jim told his dad about Eminem being the next Bob Dylan.
Sheeran admitted that American rapper Eminem was among his inspirations to overcome stuttering. He told ABC News that his life was changed after receiving Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" CD from his dad.
Sheeran said that by the age of 10, he had memorized Eminem's music. He then added, "he raps very fast and very melodically and very percussively and it helped me get rid of the stutter."
The singer-songwriter encouraged the children to be proud of what they are. He said those normal students he knew from schools were living a dull life now. Victorious individuals live a life that differs from the norms, they are not typical and this includes kids without friends.
In the same interview with ABC News, Sheeran recognized the kid's apprehensions to belong in their environment or group of friends. To address such anxiety, the singer advised, "Everything you think is wrong with you is actually right with you because that makes you an individual and that makes you an even more interesting human. That makes you, you"
Sheeran ended the evening with an impressive performance of his hit song, "Thinking Out Loud," and donated $20,000 to the institute.
