The famed British singer-songwriter revealed during his concert at Hard Rock Live Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino that he gave away the massive hit “Love Yourself” because those closest to him didn’t think it was that great of a tune.

“This is a song when I was writing ‘Divide’ I was writing a lot of songs about a lot of different things, and I wrote this song and honestly, I played it to people and they went, ‘Meh,’” Sheeran chuckled as he told the crowd.

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Ed Sheeran revealed the hilarious reason why he gave away “Love Yourself.”Getty Images


Those closest to him felt the song was “meh,” but Justin Bieber heard it and loved it.Getty ImagesSheeran, 33, then explained he played it for one person — Justin Bieber — who decided he wanted it for his repertoire.

“I went, ‘Cool, have it,’ and then it got very big,” he said, laughing.

shirtless justin bieber singing on a stool
Bieber’s “Love Yourself” topped the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart in 2016, making him the youngest artist to have a No. 1 single on the chart in the publication’s history.WireImage

justin bieber singing
After the song took off, Sheeran’s friends asked why he let Bieber have the tune.Getty Images for TVG
Bieber’s “Love Yourself” topped the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart in 2016, making him the youngest artist to have a No. 1 single on the chart in the publication’s history.

Ironically enough, the success of the song prompted the “Afterglow” singer’s friends to ask why he would give it away in the first place given how successful it became.