"Bloodstream" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter,

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

for his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was written by Sheeran,

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and ...

, and

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...

members

Johnny McDaid John McDaid (born 24 July 1976) is a singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer from Northern Ireland. He is a member of the band Snow Patrol and has written songs with other artists including Ed Sheeran, P!nk, and Robbie Williams. Early ...

and

Gary Lightbody Gareth John Lightbody (born 15 June 1976) is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. He has also founded the musical supergroups The ...

, and produced by

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

. The song was released as an "instant grat" digital download to the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on 17 June 2014, serving as the fourth of seven promotional singles from ''×''. It entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 81 and rose to number 60. In December 2014, "Bloodstream" was remixed by Rudimental. This version of the song was released on 29 March 2015 as a joint single between Sheeran and Rudimental, serving as the fourth single from ''×'' and the lead single from Rudimental's second studio album, ''

We the Generation ''We the Generation'' is the second studio album by British drum and bass band Rudimental. The album was released on 2 October 2015, although the album leaked online a week prior to its release. The album contains a number of collaborations wit ...

'' (2015). This remix peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

"Bloodstream" was written by Sheeran,

, and

members –

and

, and produced by

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel ''Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, ge ...

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

. The song is about Sheeran taking

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in Tablet (pharmacy), tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for Recreational dru ...

during a wedding celebration in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

. He claims that during the experience he "fell in love with a beanbag" and that " efelt anxiety, efelt love, efelt warm, efelt a bit weird". Sheeran made a

live PA Live PA (meaning live public address, or live personal appearance) is the act of performing live electronic music in settings typically associated with DJing, such as nightclubs, raves, and more recently dance music festivals. In a performati ...

to perform the song during Rudimental's set at

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

on 27 June 2014.

Charts

Certifications

Ed Sheeran and Rudimental version

At the

BBC Music Awards The BBC Music Awards were the BBC's annual pop music awards, held every December, as a celebration of the musical achievements over the past twelve months. The event was coordinated by the BBC's music division, BBC Music. Held between 2014 and ...

on 11 December 2014, it was revealed by Sheeran that a remixed version of "Bloodstream" would serve as the fourth single from ''×''. He told ''

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

'', "I've done a song with Rudimental that is actually a song on my album. We've just re-done it and it's heavy, it's going to be great. They've re-done it, it's going to be sort of their first single off their new record...It's really good."

Background

In an interview with '' The Sun'', regarding the collaboration, Rudimental's DJ Locksmith said, "We were working in LA and heeranrocked up to our studio with The Game and

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

. We made four tracks and revisited one this year to give it a Rudimental spin. We've known Ed for years. I remember when we first saw him getting noticed by everyone, he gave us one of his tracks to remix and he said it was one of the best remixes he'd ever had. We'd never recorded with him before, but we kept the connection and he's a massive name now. The song is so sick, so insane. We can't wait to show it to people." The reworked song's audio was uploaded on 11 February and the song was released on 29 March.

Music video

A music video featuring actor

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primeti ...

was released on 23 March 2015. The video is directed by

Emil Nava Emil William Capper Nava (born 29 March 1985) is a British music video director. After leaving school at 16, Emil started his career as a chef. He shot to fame after directing Jessie J's song " Do It Like A Dude". He has since directed over 1 ...

Live performances

Sheeran performed "Bloodstream" on 13 April 2015 on the results show of the second series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in New Zealand.

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2015 singles Ed Sheeran songs Rudimental songs Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs written by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Gary Lightbody Songs written by Johnny McDaid Songs about drugs