Gareth Southgate reveals Stormzy makes him proud to be British
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Former England manager chose an Ed Sheeran hit featuring the rapper as one of his ‘Desert Island Discs’. The former England manager, who was recently replaced by Thomas Tuchel, revealed to Lauren Laverne the eight tracks he would take with him should he ever be stranded on an island.
![[Ed Sheeran and Stormzy performing at the Brit Awards in 2017]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/20/16/GettyImages-643893080.jpg)
Among others, Southgate opted for “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, “The Whole of the Moon” by The Waterboys, Adele’s “Someone like You” and “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran. Speaking to Lauren Laverne about his choice for his sixth record, Southgate explained “Shape of You”, which was released in 2017, is still his favourite Sheeran track.
![[Sheeran is a big football fan and has performed for the squad for the past two Euros tournaments]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/07/02/16/Ed%20Sheeran%20england%20.png)
“I’ve gone for the version with Stormzy because I think he’s another amazing British artist,” he added. “Reasons to be proud of our nation, music talent is one of those things,” he continued. “To see young people like these two able to be worldwide superstars is brilliant to watch.”.
A month after Sheeran released “Shape of You” in January 2017, he dropped two remixes of the track – one with Stormzy and the other with Major Lazor – on the same day. In the same month, Stormzy released his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, which went straight to number one and saw him win the Brit Award for Best Male Solo Artist a year later.
Sheeran and Stormzy have remained close friends and have continued to work together on tracks including Sheeran’s “Take Me Back to London” and Stormzy’s “Own It” in 2019. Southgate’s Desert Island Discs selection comes months after fans questioned Sheeran’s “depressing” performance to the England squad during the Euros this summer.
