While Ed Sheeran is known for his love of tattoos, fans were still shocked when he unveiled a giant inking of a lion on his chest earlier this year, but it turns out it has a significant meaning behind it.
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The singer has explained his reasons for going under the needle during an appearance on ‘Ellen’, revealing it was to mark a milestone in his career.
Ed Sheeran
"I played the biggest venue you can play in England and sold out for three nights," he told the chat show host.
"England's national emblem is a lion. All my tattoos are things that I've done in my career and they're all leading to the middle bit which is the lion, and that's like every part of my career."
Defending it from critics, he added: "I think it looks cool. I don't really care if anyone else does."
Ed debuted the tat on Instagram in August, but then trolled fans by claiming it was fake, when he had to get it covered up for a TV appearance, only to then reveal that it was actually real.
When fans inundated him with messages asking why he’d done it, he said: "All this kerfuffle over a tattoo. If it was black and white saying a clever phrase in a language I can't speak no one would've said anything.
"It's not the first weird tattoo I've got and it won't be the last, but I like all of them. I'm also eating a bowl of pasta now so byeziez x."
