Jamie Foxx discovered Ed Sheeran performing at an open-mic night in Los Angeles when Sheeran was homeless and broke. Foxx let him stay on his couch for six weeks, then took him to a club to test his skills. Sheeran freestyled over 50 Cent's "In Da Club" and won over the crowd, convincing Foxx he had what it took.
There's a clip of Ed Sheeran on a talk show. Everyone's like, oh Ed, you're so talented. Listen to me when I was 14.
I'm addicted, but I'm—
oh, sounds like if I pick up a guitar right now and I genuinely tried to sing. What ended up happening with Ed Sheeran is he comes to LA, he goes to like an open mic night, he performs on stage. In the crowd is Jamie Foxx as his manager, and he sees him and he's like, white boy's good. So he tells Jamie the next day, I have a guest for you, I want you to have this guy come on. He plays his like 5-minute bit. Jamie Foxx is like, all right, I'm interested. So he's like, what's your deal, man? Not only am I not signed, I'm homeless. Like, I just I came out here to LA, I don't have money, I don't have anything. So Jamie's like, come sleep on my couch.
Ed Sheeran slept on my couch for 6 weeks before he was famous.
So the next night Jamie's like, all right, I'm gonna test this guy. So he takes him to some club and he starts off doing his own song, transitions into a freestyle version of 50 Cent's In Da Club. Jamie goes, that's what I knew. If he can win over this crowd, he's gonna win.
