Ed Sheeran Owns A Life-Sized Statue Of Michael Gudinski

Earlier today (August 1), LiSTNR launched a new podcast exploring the incredible life and career of the late, great Michael Gudinski. And in the very first episode, it’s revealed that Ed Sheeran owns a life-sized statue of him.

• ‘How Could You Play Music That Loud?’ Michael Gudinski’s Life Story In 13 Songs

Running across five episodes – all of which are available to stream now – the eponymous Gudinski podcast is hosted by the late music mogul’s daughter, Kate Gudinski, who also conducted new interviews with the likes of Mushroom Records co-founder Ray Evans, Mushroom UK co-founder Korda Marshall, producer Mark Opitz and musician Ross Wilson.

Sheeran’s bit part in the series comes early on – right at the start of episode one, titled A Leader, Not A Follower – when the Shape Of You megastar talks about what might well be the most insane piece of music memorabilia we’ve heard about in a long while. “I’ve got Michael’s statue in my pub – I have a pub in my house,” he explained. “I felt like I wanted to have him always in the pub, so I asked him to get a bronze statue of himself made – which he did.”

Sheeran went on to recount the night that Gudinski passed away – March 2, 2021 – remembering how he received the news over a phone call at 3:30am, and immediately turned to his prized statue. “The first thing I did,” Sheeran said, “is I went into the wine cellar, picked out the wine that I bought for him [when he was] staying at my house the year before, and went and had a drink with the statue. And it was just a really nice thing.

“That's what I do on his birthday [August 22], it’s what I did on the day of my album release, it’s what I did on the day of my single release – I just go and have a drink with him. And I feel very fortunate to be able to have this thing in my house.”

Sheeran’s statue is actually one of two in existence, with the other being publicly accessible outside Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne (Naarm). The venue’s tribute to Gudinski wouldn’t exist without Sheeran’s, though, with the same clay sculpture (that Sheeran commissioned) being used for both statues.

Sheeran and Gudinski were (obviously) close mates before the latter died in 2021, with Sheeran often speaking of Gudinski as a mentor and father figure; he was present at a memorial held for the Mushroom founder in March 2021, and he went on to write the song Visiting Hours as a tribute to Gudinski.

Ahead of his Australian tour in 2023, Sheeran visited the statue of Gudinski outside Rod Laver Arena, meeting with the latter’s son Matt – who is now the Chief Executive of the Mushroom Group – to pay tribute. He said at the time (per Music Feeds), “[Gudinski] was in my tour insurance that basically if anything ever happened to him, I could cancel as many gigs as possible and go and be with his family.”