Benny Blanco opens up about crafting Ed Sheeran's 'Divide' into musical sensation

Benny Blanco is reflecting on his collaborative experience with Ed Sheeran on the latter's Divide album, where they transformed their ideas into chart-topping hits.

The 37-year-old music producer, who is currently engaged to Selena Gomez, opened up to Daniel Wall’s Behind The Wall podcast about the duo creating ‘five number ones’ for other artists, including Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself, Anne Marie’s 2002, and Halsey’s Eastside.

Recalling his first introduction to Sheeran's music, he explained, “My manager called me up and said, ‘hey, there’s this guy just starting to put out music in the UK, and I think he’s really good.’ They played me The A Team, and I was like, “I’ve got to work with this man right now.

“Ed was like, ‘Nice to meet you,’ and all I wrote was, ‘Hi, I have to sh*t.’ Everyone was like, ‘Why did you do that? He’s never going to write back!’ And then a day later, he wrote back, ‘Me too.’ I thought, okay, now I know I’m going to be friends with this guy.”

Blanco worked on Ed Sheeran's biggest album for almost two years, selling around 40 million copies.

In addition, he claimed that all of this was created in unconventional settings like tour buses, studios, and Ed's home.