I talked to a group of very astute 13yos about Ed Sheeran, some lovers some haters, and why he’s popular. Here are a few ideas:
He makes very little money from selling traditional CDs, knowing that people can download his music freely. So there are no hard feelings about pirating.
He tours a lot and his concerts are exciting age appropriate experiences for teenagers.
He has a MASSIVE following on social media and puts a lot of effort into building up his fanbase. He also appears for charities.
He’s a loser done good (see above) and his goofy appearance and self-deprecating sense of humour endear him to kids who may be struggling with their own looks.
He’s a reasonably talented musician who can sustain a concert on his own.
But most of all he speaks about raw teenage and young adult experiences (first love, unrequited love friendships, pregnancy...) which we can all relate to or look back on fondly.
So his fans come from all over. I don’t suppose he can keep it up much longer. A 50yo singing about those things would be ridiculous but I can imagine him turning into a National Treasure/figure of fun like a minor Paul McCartney.