# Don't (Ed Sheeran song)
"Don't" is a song by the English singer-songwriter [Ed Sheeran](https://www.edgepedia.org/ed-sheeran), written with producer Benjamin Levin ([Benny Blanco](https://www.edgepedia.org/benny-blanco)) and released in 2014 as the second single from his second studio album, *x* (pronounced "multiply")[1](https://xn--meb.pisz.pl/Don%E2%80%99t_%28singel_Eda_Sheerana%29). It is one of the R&B and hip-hop-influenced tracks that marked *x* as a departure from the acoustic folk-pop of Sheeran's 2011 debut *+*, and it became one of the album's most successful singles on both sides of the Atlantic[2](https://www.metacritic.com/music/x/ed-sheeran) • [3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/ed-sheeran-dont/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and album | Ed Sheeran, from *x* (2014), where it served as the second single[1](https://xn--meb.pisz.pl/Don%E2%80%99t_%28singel_Eda_Sheerana%29) |
| Writers and producers | Written by Sheeran with Benjamin Levin (Benny Blanco); produced by Rick Rubin and Benny Blanco[1](https://xn--meb.pisz.pl/Don%E2%80%99t_%28singel_Eda_Sheerana%29) • [4](https://time.com/2802761/ed-sheeran-x-album-review/) |
| Sample | Built on a sample of "Don't Mess with My Man" by the R&B group Lucy Pearl, whose members Raphael Saadiq, Dawn Robinson, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad share the songwriter credit[5](https://songsense.io/ed-sheeran/dont-1) • [6](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/31497-dont/2/) |
| UK chart performance | Peaked at number 8 on the Official Singles Chart; 46 weeks in the Top 100 between July 2014 and May 2015[3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/ed-sheeran-dont/) |
| US chart performance | Entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 10, his highest U.S. charting single at that time[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/10s/Mix-2014-12.pdf) |
| Subject | Sheeran has said the lyrics are "100 percent true" and recount a specific personal experience[5](https://songsense.io/ed-sheeran/dont-1) |
| Label | Asylum (catalog number GBAHS1400090)[3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/ed-sheeran-dont/) |
## Writing and production
For *x*, Sheeran recorded in Nashville, Los Angeles, and New York, working with his earlier collaborators alongside new ones, including [Rick Rubin](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-rubin), Benny Blanco, Pharrell Williams, and Jake Gosling[8](https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2014/2014-04-19-Music%20Week.pdf). "Don't" came together with Blanco, who co-wrote the song with Sheeran, and Rick Rubin is credited as a producer alongside Blanco[1](https://xn--meb.pisz.pl/Don%E2%80%99t_%28singel_Eda_Sheerana%29) • [4](https://time.com/2802761/ed-sheeran-x-album-review/). Rubin and Blanco also worked together on the album track "Bloodstream"[4](https://time.com/2802761/ed-sheeran-x-album-review/).
The song's rhythmic phrasing is a defining feature. Sheeran's delivery crams syllables into lines where they barely fit, and rap's influence on his pacing is clear even when he sings in a traditional pop mode; reviewers heard that hip-hop cadence in "Don't" itself[4](https://time.com/2802761/ed-sheeran-x-album-review/). TIME's review of *x* described the result as "a vicious takedown of a cheating lover" and judged that the song carries an edge Sheeran himself, in the critic's view, lacked as a performer[4](https://time.com/2802761/ed-sheeran-x-album-review/).
The lyrics draw on a real episode: Sheeran has confirmed they are "100 percent true" and describe a specific personal experience involving a partner who was unfaithful[5](https://songsense.io/ed-sheeran/dont-1).
## Chart performance
"Don't" first appeared on the UK Official Singles Chart dated 5 July 2014 at number 19, climbed to its peak of number 8 at the end of August and again in early September 2014, and stayed on the chart for 46 weeks, with 35 of those weeks inside the [Top 40](https://www.edgepedia.org/top-40)[3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/ed-sheeran-dont/).
In the United States, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 10, which Mix magazine reported as Sheeran's highest U.S. charting single to that point[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/10s/Mix-2014-12.pdf).
## Music video and related releases
The official music video was published on 4 August 2014 and features the dancer known as Pacman; it was directed by Emil Nava, with Lanette Phillips as executive producer and London Alley as production company[9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD2rhdFRehU).
**The Don't EP.** A four-track EP built around the single was released on 25 August 2014. It opens with a [Rick Ross](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-ross) remix of "Don't" and also contains two new studio tracks, "Everything You Are" and "Friends", plus a live-from-[Glastonbury](https://www.edgepedia.org/glastonbury) recording of Sheeran's 2012 rendition of [Nina Simone](https://www.edgepedia.org/nina-simone)'s "Be My Husband"[10](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-mw0002711277). The EP's songwriter credits list Benjamin Levin and Ed Sheeran for the remix, and Andy Stroud, Nina Simone's husband, for the Simone cover[10](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-mw0002711277).
## Reception
The parent album *x* received generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic Metascore of 67 based on 20 critic reviews[2](https://www.metacritic.com/music/x/ed-sheeran). Critics divided over "Don't" itself. TIME's review grouped it with "Bloodstream" as material whose edge outstripped the performer[4](https://time.com/2802761/ed-sheeran-x-album-review/), while The Independent called it a charmless kiss-off[11](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-ed-sheeran-x-9553857.html). Others valued it more highly: a Sputnikmusic review placed "Don't" among the tracks whose chorus melodies have "true staying power"[12](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/74183/Ed-Sheeran-x/), and a later retrospective described it as showing Sheeran's "genuine knack for rhythmic pop venom"[13](https://riffiter.com/artist/ed-sheeran/x).
## References
1. [Don't (singel Eda Sheerana), Encyklopedia internetowa](https://xn--meb.pisz.pl/Don%E2%80%99t_%28singel_Eda_Sheerana%29)
2. [x by Ed Sheeran, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/x/ed-sheeran)
3. [DON'T – ED SHEERAN, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/ed-sheeran-dont/)
4. [REVIEW: Ed Sheeran Multiplies His Appeal on x, TIME (Jamieson Cox, 31 May 2014)](https://time.com/2802761/ed-sheeran-x-album-review/)
5. [Meaning of "Don't" by Ed Sheeran, SongSense](https://songsense.io/ed-sheeran/dont-1)
6. [Ed Sheeran – Don't, song credits, Album of the Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/31497-dont/2/)
7. [Solo Acoustic Singer-Songwriter, Mix Magazine, December 2014](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/10s/Mix-2014-12.pdf)
8. [The Big Interview: Ed Sheeran, Music Week, 19 April 2014](https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2014/2014-04-19-Music%20Week.pdf)
9. [Ed Sheeran – Don't (Official Music Video), YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD2rhdFRehU)
10. [Ed Sheeran: Don't, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-mw0002711277)
11. [Album review: Ed Sheeran – X, The Independent (Kevin Harley, 21 June 2014)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-ed-sheeran-x-9553857.html)
12. [Ed Sheeran – x album review, Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/74183/Ed-Sheeran-x/)
13. [x by Ed Sheeran, Ratings & Reviews, Riffiter](https://riffiter.com/artist/ed-sheeran/x)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Pop songs › Pop songs of the 2010s › Pop songs of the early 2010s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license