Ed Sheeran unveils archival Instagram account ahead of new single ‘Old Phone’, including decade-old photos with Taylor Swift, Elton John and more

Ed Sheeran has unveiled an archival Instagram account ahead of his new single, ‘Old Phone’ – find out more below.

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Yesterday (April 29), Sheeran took to Instagram to reveal that he’s quietly been putting together a second Instagram account in which he reflects on his life in 2015. The account is named Teddy’s Old Phone, and has been posting decade-old pictures over the past month, slowly but quietly building a following.

The ‘A-Team’ singer has now publicly unveiled the account on the eve of his new single ‘Old Phone’ being released, reflecting on his experience going through one of his old mobile devices.

The account provides some backstory for his upcoming song, which was inspired by his time being sued for copyright claims years back, when he had to go through an old phone for evidence and was swept up in emotions reliving his past memories.

Now writing about going through his phone, Sheeran reveals that the first thing he came across was an old text message from the late Jamal Edwards, followed by messages from an ex-girlfriend and family members he hadn’t spoke to in years.

Sheeran wrote: “It felt like a time capsule, a time of life that I was in, and living at that time in 2015. Turning it on really spun me out, I found myself scrolling messages and conversations with people who are no longer here. I found myself crying at messages to friends who are now dead, who I won’t get to speak to again.”

“It feels like a song that should’ve been on my debut album, but also a song I couldn’t have written until I experienced real life things happening to me. It makes me emotional to sing, I hope it finds some emotion in you too. Maybe it makes you switch on your old phone and have a look at where you were a decade ago too. Whatever it does, I’m glad I wrote it.”

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A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos)

Among the over 200 posts he’s shared on the archival Instagram page are old, personal photos from his mobile phone with Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Usher, Sam Smith, Elton John and more.

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A post shared by Teddy’s Old Phone (@teddysoldphone)

Sheeran first previewed ‘Old Phone’ during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last month.

Sheeran most recently released the video for ‘Azizam’ – which is named after a Persian term of endearment that translates to “my dear” or “my beloved” – and it sees the singer joining in with a lively Persian wedding. It is the first release from his upcoming album ‘Play’, which has yet to be given an official release date.

Sheeran has also confirmed that a new track called ‘Sapphire’ will be released in the coming months, and he revealed that he plans to share new music every two or three weeks.

The singer-songwriter is due to play a run of European shows from May to September 2025 before finishing up the year with performances in Bhutan, India, Qatar and Bahrain.

Elsewhere, last week he joined forces with Noah Kahan to perform a short acoustic duet set in a Nashville pub, and before that he played Coachella 2025, where he was announced as a late addition for the Mojave Stage. He also joined Post Malone for the latter’s festival-closing set last weekend – check out footage here.

The post Ed Sheeran unveils archival Instagram account ahead of new single ‘Old Phone’, including decade-old photos with Taylor Swift, Elton John and more appeared first on NME.