Brit Ed Sheeran captivates his audience with his charisma, magical voice, and original love songs.

It’s the inside that counts, right? Apparently not, because the majority of people base their first impressions off of appearances. The same thing applies to music too. People, mostly teenage girls, are known to base their music taste off of the physical qualities of the artist. However, there is one well-known exception.
  Ed Sheeran has collected the awards for British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act at the 2012 BRIT Awards. Sheeran specializes in a unique combination of folk-rock, adult alternative, and rock. His most popular song, “The A Team,” currently resides at number 35 on the Itunes sales chart. Sheeran’s U.S. tour which took place earlier this fall, sold out within minutes. Although Sheeran would not be considered attractive by anyone’s standards, he is known to have the voice of an angel.

Sheeran is even referred to as “the Ginger Jesus” by his fans, known as Sheeranators.
  So why do artists such as One Direction and Justin Bieber have such a larger fan base? Obviously these artists are seen as attractive, especially to teenage girls, but many people consider their music mediocre.

“I know that a lot of popular music today is based on good looking people,” said sophomore Eden Smalley. “I think that for some artists today, you need to account for their music not their looks. If they turned ugly over night would you still listen to them?”
  One Direction and Justin Bieber’s concerts are almost always sold out. One Direction’s concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which can hold up to twenty thousand, sold out in under an hour. Are fans spending their money to go stare at a beautiful face for a few hours, or to actually sit and enjoy the music?
  Another influential band from England was the Beatles. Nearly everyone will agree that the Beatles did have incredible talent.

The Rolling Stones was also an incredibly popular band from England. Both of these bands came over to America in the sixties and this became known as the British Invasion.
  Now in present day, we have One Direction and Ed Sheeran taking over the American music industry.

Both of these artists are from England, so is this yet another British Invasion?
  It’s interesting how teenage girls base their music interests off of looks. Men seem to not care much about the appearance of the artist. You don’t see many men listening to Selena Gomez or Carrie Underwood.

Many people consider artists such as Justin Bieber or One Direction famous because of their looks.

“I think that they both have musical talent,” said freshman Amir Dayi. “It is the fandom that is very annoying and makes me not care for them.” What is it that drives the fans crazy for those specific artists? The fans appear to be even more intense than your normal pop star. These fans have been known to wait outside for hours in order to just catch a glimpse of their idols, or even send death threats to love interests of the singers.

Sheeran’s fans believe that he has a great voice even if he isn’t considered attractive. “His voice is amazing,” states freshman Alexis Hamner. “In my opinion he has the best voice in music right now. He’s not the most attractive face in the music industry now, but his music is so amazing that people still continue to appreciate him as an artist.”
  It appears that the motive of most music fans is the physical appearance of the singer.

The artists do have some musical talent, but is their talent what really helped them achieve all of their fans? It appears that their fans enjoy their music, but they would not be as crazy about the singers if they weren’t attractive.
  Ed Sheeran’s fans love him because of his music, but do some people change their opinion about someone’s talent because of their physical appearance?

I found people around campus who haven’t heard of or seen Ed Sheeran perform before, and I played some of his songs for them. I asked them for their opinion of his music, and I showed them a picture of Ed Sheeran to see if they would change their mind. “His music is good and his voice is nice,” said freshman Emma Cohn after hearing Sheeran for the first time. “I was surprised that his voice could sound like that,” she stated after seeing a picture of Sheeran.
  “His voice is pretty good,” said freshman Obson Ibssa once he first heard Sheeran. “I’m surprised that his voice could sound like that. He looks like a pumpkin.” People who had not yet heard Ed Sheeran’s music were all surprised to hear his great voice. “This just proves that you can be famous even if people don’t consider you attractive,” said sophomore Nick Mckenzie.
  Ed Sheeran’s faithful fans have proved that you can be crazily obsessed with a singer even if you’re not attracted to them.

Although Sheeran might not have as many fans as other pop sensations, his voice continues to capture his fans’ hearts.