"Dive" is a song 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 re ...

. It was included on his third studio album '' ÷'' (2017). It is the third track on the album. After the album's release, it charted at number 8 on 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 ...

Background

Sheeran wrote the song with

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is als ...

and

Julia Michaels Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

. In an interview with

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

, Sheeran said that he, Blanco and Michaels started working on the song in Malibu in March 2016 just before he left for a break in Japan. He had the riffs for the song, and first put down five or six riffs, and Michaels then sang 10 or 15 seconds on each. Later, after Sheeran had come back and reviewed the recordings, Michaels returned to flesh out the song with Sheeran and Blanco.

Jessie Ware Jessica Lois Ware (born 15 October 1984) is an English singer, songwriter and broadcaster. Ware came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album, '' Devotion'' (2012), which peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart, produc ...

provides backing vocal on this as well as two other songs on the album. The guitar solo in the song is credited to an anonymous guitarist named Angelo Mysterioso, and Sheeran revealed that he himself was also credited as Angelo Mysterioso in the guitarist's album (an individual of that name was credited on an Eric Clapton song, " I Will Be There", and Sheeran had performed the song with Clapton in concert).

Critical reception

Taylor Weatherby of '' Billboard'' described the song as the one with the "most passionate vocal strains" of the album.

Live performances

Sheeran performed the song with American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

singer Luke Combs on 13 March, 2022, at the C2C: Country to Country festival in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Combs previously covered the song as an exclusive for

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in 2018.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2016 songs Ed Sheeran songs Songs written by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Benny Blanco Songs written by Julia Michaels Song recordings produced by Benny Blanco