Ed Sheeran and Bring Me The Horizon are set to release a re-working of the hit single “Bad Habits”. The unlikely pairing’s track will be released on 18th February 2022. The rock-influenced rendition of the track was premiered at last week’s BRIT Awards, and due to the positive reactions sired by the performance Sheeran and the band have recorded their collaboration.
The new version incorporates a heavier sound featuring screamed vocals courtesy of frontman Oli Sykes, whilst retaining the hit single’s pop hooks. The single was originally released on 25th June 2021 and spent numerous weeks as the UK number-one single. “Bad Habits” has experienced a remix before this year’s Brits award, on 12th August 2021 Fumez the Engineer released a UK drill mix featuring British rappers Tion Wayne and Central Cee.
Bring me the Horizon posted the FaceTime call with Sheeran which led to the recording and release of their Brit collaboration. Within the call, the “Shape of You” singer described the Brits performance, “That show was nuts“, Sykes replied, “I’ve never had so much adrenaline pumping through me.”. The 35-year-old singer then stated, “There are so many people asking for like a studio version.”, Sheeran replied, “We have to get one out”.
Sheeran has expressed interest in working together with Bring Me the Horizon in the past, having spoken with the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column concerning the new partnership, “We’re going to write a song together… Playing with Bring Me The Horizon was a dream. I got in touch with [singer Oli Sykes] and we were going to write together but then the pandemic happened, so we were in touch – I’ve been a fan for a long time. Oddly enough that’s the kind of music I grew up listening to and had a Kerrang subscription and I listened to it constantly.”
He continued to state how the group improved the live performance of the track, “I actually said ‘Bad Habits’ would be a bit of a wet fart if I was just going up there and playing it normally. The song is EDM and they’ve taken it and make it a whole new thing. I was just like, you know what, these guitars are going to be great. It was a week’s turnaround – we emailed each other two weeks ago, recorded it a week ago and rehearsed it three days ago.”
This is not the first time in which Sheeran’s pop sound has generated interest from heavier genres of music. Last year, Cradle of Filth bandmember Dani Filth confirmed that he had contacted Sheeran via social media intending to record a charity single together. Filth discussed the interaction, “I’ve actually been emailing with him. He actually touched base with me. I’ve been invited up to his place. Well, he said he could come down to mine, but I pointed out to him that I don’t own my own bar or village, and it’d be better if I went there. He said he’d do anything. Quite literally. He said he’s a massive fan. He seems like a genuinely very nice guy actually.”
Sheeran and Bring me the Horizon’s upcoming pop-rock mash-up of “Bad Habits” is now available to pre-save across all major streaming platforms.
Click here to pre-save the single.
