Yesterday, Ed Sheeran filed an unofficial request for New Zealand citizenship. The three-step process — as laid out by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Aldern on Twitter — would involve discovering Pineapple Lumps and permanently relocating to the bottom of the world. But an early retirement would be well-earned, given that Ed has just reached what’s probably the apex of musicianship : a duet with Beyoncé.
“Got Beyoncé to duet with me on ‘Perfect,’ comes out today at 7pm ET / 4pm PT / midnight GMT x,” Ed casually announced on Instagram this morning. The original version of “Perfect” featured on his 2017 album ÷. Ed originally teased a remix last Friday, telling fans that the singer he’d confirmed to duet with him was a “fucking big deal”. You truly don’t get much bigger than Bey.
The announcement isn’t totally wild. Ed and Bey previously sang together at a Stevie Wonder tribute duet in 2015, and both artists have a history of out-of-the-box collabs. Beyoncé recently worked with Eminem on the rapper’s surprisingly emotional comeback song “Walk on Water.” She even teamed up with Coldplay after politely rejecting an earlier pitch from singer Chris Martin. “I really like you — but this is awful,” she told Martin before later contributing vocals to “Hymn for the Weekend.” Girl obviously has standards, so we have pretty lofty hopes for the “Perfect” project. At least we will definitely get to hear it, unlike Bey’s mystery music with Jay-Z.