Ed Sheeran on missing grandmother's funeral during trial: 'I think that she was in the court with me'

Ed Sheeran is thinking out loud about missing his grandmother's funeral.

Stopping by SiriusXM's The Morning Mash Up on Friday to promote his newly released sixth album, the British singer-songwriter was asked about not attending his grandmother's being laid to rest in Ireland earlier this week due to being in court in New York for a copyright trial.

"It's not that they wouldn't let me go," Sheeran said. "It's just like, weirdly enough, she passed away the first day of court and I remember in my head being like, 'Well, of course that would happen today of all days.'"

He continued, "I thought that the case would end sooner. I thought it would end by Monday or Tuesday and I would be able to get a flight, but sadly I missed it by a day which is a big shame because I have a very large Catholic family and it just would've meant a lot to be there. But she was such a tenacious woman that I think that she was in the court with me, basically."

A Manhattan jury found Thursday that Sheeran did not steal components of the classic Marvin Gaye song "Let's Get It On" when he wrote his 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud." The verdict marked the end of a two-week copyright infringement trial between Sheeran and the heirs of the late Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 track with Gaye.

Speaking to Morning Mash Up, Sheeran also reflected on what it was like to release an album in the wake of the trial. "It's weird because this morning I woke up and remembered I released an album, because I literally won the case at like 2 p.m. yesterday and then did the statement, went out for some beers, went to bed at like 8 p.m., and then I woke up and was like, 'Oh yeah, I am releasing an album today,'" he said. "It's a bit weird, to be honest. I need to get my head around that the album's out."

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