Ed Sheeran Surprises Singer Mike Yung on N.Y.C. Subway Platform as He Belts New Single 'Eyes Closed'

Ed Sheeran surprised subway singer Mike Yung in New York City as he sang Sheeran's new single "Eyes Closed"

The New York City subway system is full of surprises — sometimes, those surprises are less appealing, like the slice-toting rodent pizza rat. But other times, the commute includes a surprise performance from Ed Sheeran.

That's what happened on Monday at the Church Avenue station in Brooklyn, where famed subway singer Mike Yung was shocked to find Sheeran casually join him for a duet on the platform.

Yung — who memorably performed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" as a contestant on America's Got Talent in 2017 — was singing the star's new single "Eyes Closed" while waiting for a train, according to video shared to Instagram by @subwaycreatures.

Sheeran then approached from behind, telling Yung, "I f---ing love you, you're great" as he went in for a hug.

"You're the man," Yung told Sheeran, 32, as the British singer harmonized with Yung's vocals before a small crowd of fans.

Once they finished, Sheeran offered Yung tickets to his show that night at Kings Theatre, which the singer happily took him up on. He shared photos of his tickets and video from the concert to his Instagram page later that night.

"NYC subway legend @mikeyung performed @teddysphotos new song 'Eyes Closed' and got a pretty cool surprise in the process," @subwaycreatures captioned the video.

Sheeran later shared the video to his own Instagram Story, writing, "Much love."

"Eyes Closed" is the lead single off the star's forthcoming album - (Subtract), which is due out May 5.

RELATED VIDEO: Ed Sheeran Announces 'Honest' New Album, Reveals Wife Cherry Seaborn Had a Tumor During Pregnancy

Written several years ago, "Eyes Closed" first began as a break-up song. But, after the February 2022 death of his friend and mentor Jamal Edwards, Sheeran saw the lyrics take on a whole new meaning.

"This song is about losing someone, feeling like every time you go out and you expect to just bump into them, and everything just reminds you of them and the things you did together," Sheeran said in a statement. "You sorta have to take yourself out of reality sometimes to numb the pain of loss, but certain things just bring you right back into it."

In the music video for the song, Sheeran's grief is personified as a blue monster that follows him during a night out.

"When I was thinking of concepts for the 'Eyes Closed' music video, I wanted to make a video inspired by movies like Harvey, where the main character has an imaginary friend who's a giant rabbit that no one can see," Sheeran said. "There's also a book I read my daughters where sadness is encapsulated by an imaginary creature."

Related:Ed Sheeran's 'Sadness' Is a 'Big Blue Monster' in Music Video for New Single 'Eyes Closed'

"Often sadness is something that follows you around, engulfing the rooms you're in, and you can feel and see it, but no one else around you can," he continued. "So I decided to create my own big blue monster for the video. He gets bigger and bigger as the video goes on, 'til he takes up whole rooms, and is all I can see, just like sadness."

Related:Ed Sheeran Reveals JAY-Z Turned Down a Guest Verse on 'Shape of You'

As for the color blue, Sheeran previously wrote in a March 15 Instagram that it "was Jamal's color."

"Now [it's] all I feel," he wrote. "And I guess music helps heal, so I'm dancing with my eyes closed to try get through it."

Like with "Eyes Closed," the rest of Sheeran's upcoming album touches on a variety of hardships he faced around the same time, including Edwards' death and a health scare involving wife Cherry Seaborn, who was diagnosed with a tumor during her most recent pregnancy.

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