Ed Sheeran should love himself.
The famed British singer-songwriter revealed during his concert at Hard Rock Live Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino that he gave away the massive hit “Love Yourself” because those closest to him didn’t think it was that great of a tune.
“This is a song when I was writing ‘Divide’ I was writing a lot of songs about a lot of different things, and I wrote this song and honestly, I played it to people and they went, ‘Meh,’” Sheeran chuckled as he told the crowd.
Sheeran, 33, then explained he played it for one person — Justin Bieber — who decided he wanted it for his repertoire.
“I went, ‘Cool, have it,’ and then it got very big,” he said, laughing.
Bieber’s “Love Yourself” topped the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart in 2016, making him the youngest artist to have a No. 1 single on the chart in the publication’s history.
Ironically enough, the success of the song prompted the “Afterglow” singer’s friends to ask why he would give it away in the first place given how successful it became.
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“‘You told me it wasn’t good,’” Sheeran recalled saying, laughing with the crowd as he reminisced.
Although it ultimately became the “Baby” singer’s hit, Sheeran’s songwriting credits allow him to “always play it,” so he performed it for the Hard Rock audience.
Sheeran will also perform Saturday as part of Hard Rock Beach Club’s Formula 1 lineup ahead of the qualifying session race. Other performers include Don Omar, Kaskade and Cedric Gervais.
The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix takes place Sunday, with Marc Anthony singing the National Anthem.
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