Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran didn’t just think out loud, they turned their ideas into chart-topping hits.

The music producer has revealed that while working on Sheeran’s Divide—which sold over 40 million copies—they also created ‘five number ones that were spawned for other artists,’ including Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself, Anne-Marie’s 2002, and Halsey’s Eastside.

Speaking on Daniel Wall’s Behind The Wall podcast, Blanco, 37, who is engaged to Selena Gomez, recalled first hearing Sheeran’s music: ‘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.”’

Their first email exchange set the tone for their friendship.

‘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 originally planned to join Sheeran on tour for a week but ended up staying for two years.

Benny Blanco has revealed that while working on Ed Sheeran’s Divide—which sold over 40 million copies—they also created ‘five number ones that were spawned for other artists,’ including Justin Bieber ’s Love Yourself, Anne-Marie’s 2002, and Halsey ’s Eastside

Blanco originally planned to join Sheeran on tour for a week but ended up staying for two years

He said: ‘We worked on an album for two years. It was Ed’s biggest album. It sold about 40 million copies. It was one of the biggest albums ever. And we just made it on a tour bus, in the back of studios, in his house… We never worked in a real studio.’

At one point, legendary producer Rick Rubin offered his input in a way only he could.

‘Me and Ed were cutting new vocals, and we played it for Rick. He listened three times in a row and then said, “This song makes me feel orange.” I asked, “Oh, what do we need to fix?” And he just goes, “You’ll figure it out,” and walked out of the room. We thought about it so long. That’s the genius of Rick. 

‘We started fixing all the things we thought were wrong with the song—and I think he knew we were going to do that. After we were done and we played it for him, he said, “It’s perfect.” I was like, “Did he just get into my mind and tell me what to fix without actually telling me what to fix?!” And then I thought—this song does make me feel orange.’

Many hits emerged unexpectedly. Love Yourself was written in the middle of the night after a party.

‘We were wasted, eating pizza, got back on the bus and decided to make a song just to stay up because we were going to be woken up at border patrol in two hours. And then it becomes a big song.’

Blanco also praised Sheeran’s relentless work ethic. ‘We’d be backstage working on a song. They’d say, “Ed, 10 minutes.” And he’s like, “Okay,” still working. “Three minutes.” He keeps going. “Two minutes,” they put the mic on his head. “One minute,” and he’s like, “Keep working on the song, I’ll be right back.”

Their first email exchange set the tone for their friendship. ‘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’

Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself was written in the middle of the night after a party.  Benny said: ‘We were wasted, eating pizza, got back on the bus and decided to make a song just to stay up because we were going to be woken up at border patrol in two hours. And then it becomes a big song’ 

Sheeran last night teased new music, with fans speculating that another blockbuster album could be on the way

Benny has collaborated with a bevy of big name artists – including his fiance Gomez on her tracks such as Scared of Loving You, Single Soon, and his 2019 song I Can’t Get Enough

‘Then he goes, performs for two hours, comes back, and says, “Okay, I was thinking about the pre-chorus while I was on stage.” I was like, “How can you think about the pre-chorus while singing to 80,000 people?” I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast. And somehow, he does it.’

Sheeran last night teased new music, with fans speculating that another blockbuster album could be on the way.

Blanco, a native of Reston, Virginia, has been involved in the industry for more than 15 years as a musical artist, producer and songwriter.

He has collaborated with a bevy of big name artists – including Gomez on her tracks such as Scared of Loving You, Single Soon, and his 2019 song I Can’t Get Enough.

Blanco has also worked with Rihanna, Lizzo, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, SZA, Ed Sheeran and Keith Urban.

He has been a songwriter on a number of hit tracks, including Rihanna’s Diamonds, Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger, Spears’ Circus and Ke$ha’s TiK ToK, among others.