(C)Ed Sheeran on Taylor Swift’s Powerful ‘TTPD’ Album & Their Friendship: “I Think It’s Great” (Exclusive)

Ed Sheeran chatted with “Extra’s” Melvin Robert ahead of his performance at the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation’s Blue Diamond Gala. The singer-songwriter is preparing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his 2014 album “X” aka “Multiply” with a show at Barclays Center in New York.

He told Melvin, “I look back at it and it feels like yesterday, but in the last 10 years, like, a lot has happened. I’m married with two kids now. I think I have done 5 albums since then. So yeah, it’s been a while.”

Melvin asked him his favorite memory of making the record. “I spent about four months at Rick Rubin’s studios Shangri-La. We basically re-did the whole record and played it live. He’s a, I guess the word would be a ‘reducer,’ instead of a producer. He likes stripping things back… That was something I learned from him. So that would be one of my favorite memories.”

He also praised Taylor Swift’s new album “The Tortured Poets Department,” saying, “I think it’s great. I always love the work that she does with Aaron [Dessner], and I think it’s a very powerful album.”

After previously saying his relationship with her is like therapy, Mel asked about the best advice Taylor ever gave him. Ed answered, “I find speaking to people in the same industry as you… I have a lot of friends I grew up with, obviously, that I can speak to about stuff. But when you have someone in the same industry as you, they get the things that you get, I guess.”

Talking about supporting the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, Ed said, “I do like baseball, yeah. But I’m kind of like, because I’m English, I like watching the sport, rather than being like, ‘This is my team. This isn’t my team.’ So I guess I’ll say I’m a Dodgers fan tonight.”

The 2024 Blue Diamond Gala raised a record-breaking $54 million to help the foundation continue its mission to help with homelessness, education, health care and social justice for all Angelenos.