Ed Sheeran is packing up life in the UK and heading across the Atlantic.

The 34-year-old chart-topper revealed on the 2 Johnnies Podcast that he, his wife Cherry Seaborn, and their daughters Lyra, 5, and Jupiter, 3, will be ‘settling’ in the U.S. while he tours, rather than dipping in and out.

“I’m just about to move to America. I feel like I might be the only person moving to America,” he joked. “I’m going on tour there for a while and I have a family so I can’t dip in and out. We’re going and settling there.”

Sheeran, who owns a sprawling £70 million property portfolio, recently bought a £9 million home in New York. He hasn’t revealed exactly where he’ll base himself, though he’s previously said Nashville is his ‘end goal.

A Nashville dream

For years, Sheeran has hinted at a pivot into country music, and he’s been candid that a move stateside would make it easier.

“When you transition to country, you can’t transition back,” he told interviewers earlier this year. “Nashville is my favourite city in the States and it’s always been my end goal to move to Nashville and transition to country.”

The singer has long praised Nashville for its songwriting culture, describing it as the perfect environment for his next chapter.

Irish roots, English backlash

Sheeran’s U.S. announcement comes just two months after he sparked controversy for comments about his cultural identity.

On The Louis Theroux Podcast, he explained that despite being born and raised in Suffolk, he has always identified culturally as Irish because his father John hails from Belfast, where he has seven siblings, and Sheeran spent all of his childhood holidays in Ireland.

“My first musical experiences were in Ireland, I grew up with trad music in the house. I class my culture as Irish,” he said.

While some fans applauded him for embracing his heritage, “He has roots. Nothing wrong with identifying with your heritage,” others pushed back, accusing him of “pretending” and leaning into Irish clichés.

Still, Sheeran doubled down, calling Ireland “basically my second home, musically.”

A new chapter ahead

Between his family life in Suffolk, a fresh U.S. move, and dreams of Nashville, Sheeran is clearly in a season of transition.

Whether fans embrace his cultural identity debate or not, one thing’s certain: Ed Sheeran isn’t just crossing genres, he’s crossing oceans.