But that's not the only Wonder-wrote-it chestnut Sheeran has in his quiver of cover tunes. In fact, Sheeran got in a little extra rehearsal time on his favorite Stevie-bangers in the run up to the Grammys, joining our heroes The Roots at their annual Grammy-week Roots Jam in L.A. to belt out a modified, Questlove-assisted live rendition of "Superstition" (Stevie Ray Vaughan, hold your head) that unexpectedly turned into five minutes of MC Sheeran goin' off into an unexpected live rap of his own hip-hop inflected confessional "Take It Back"--unexpected by literally everyone, as demonstrated by the Questo's professional-drummer-masking-confusion face as his vocal lead breaks north fro the song he thought they were performing, then breaking into a grin as Sheeran and Questo both lock in on the groove. Possibly inspired and powered up by the legendary backing band, Sheeran brings a far more aggressive MC vocal attack to the bars (yes, kids, these are bars) than we've ever seen him bring to an Ed Sheeran solo show, and certainly a lot more grown-man swag than on the charmingly boyish studio version.
As it happens, Sheeran-sings-Stevie is a thing that's trending today because of last night's Wonder Tribute, but that's not why we got this little gem ready to drop on you today...we hooked it up because today,Tuesday, February 17th, is Ed Sheeran's birthday. Happy Birthday, MC Sheeran. Watch Ed Sheeran x The Roots cover of "Superstition" mashed with "Take It Back" below...and for more Sheeran & The Legendary rewind on their Philly 4th Of July Jam Performance from this past summer here.
