Ed Sheeran has revealed that his forthcoming song “Drive” will feature Dave Grohl and John Mayer. The rock-inspired track is set to appear on the soundtrack to Formula 1 movie F1, which arrives alongside the film on June 27.
A snippet of the song was previewed on the soundtrack’s Instagram account, with Sheeran re-posting it with some additional context. “Sneak peek of the song I did for the F1 movie,” he wrote on an Instagram Story. “Mayer on guitar, Grohl on drums. A lot of fun making this, coming out next month with the movie x.”
F1 the Album will feature 17 tracks, including contributions from Sheeran, Doja Cat, Burna Boy, Raye, Tate McRae, Don Toliver, Madison Beer, Rosé, Tiësto, and Chris Stapleton. So far “Lose My Mind,” from Toliver and Doja, and “Messy,” from Rosé, have been released.
Directed and produced by Joseph Kosinski alongside co-executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, F1 stars Brad Pitt as washed-up “greatest that never was” driver Sonny Hayes, who agrees to come out of retirement to help his friend and former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) save his struggling racing team, Apex Grand Prix. His new teammate, Joshua “Noah” Pearce (Damson Idris), is a rookie upstart with all the raw talent and none of the experience, and the two will battle for the checkered flag in a cutthroat sport where no one shares a podium — much less a championship.
Sheeran is preparing to unveil his next studio album, Play, on Sept. 12. “Play was an album that was made as a direct response to the darkest period of my life,” Sheeran shared in a statement. “Coming out of all of that I just wanted to create joy and technicolour, and explore cultures in the countries I was touring.” The LP was recorded in all the different locations the singer-songwriter visited and completed in Goa, India. It brought a lightness back to him, giving him some of “the most fun, explorative creative days of my life.”
He first previewed the album with “Azizam,” an upbeat, vibrant single about letting go on the dance floor, and has since shared “Old Phone.” Play is the first installment in a new series of albums from Sheeran. It will be followed by Rewind, Fast-Forward, and Stop, continuing the tradition he started with Plus, Multiply, Divide, Subtract, and Equals.
