When you're Ed Sheeran, you don't need to do too much to get crowds eating out of the palm of your hand... but sometimes, you can also just call up one of your famous friends who also happens to be the hometown hero of where you're performing and absolutely tear the roof off the place.
Performing at Ford Field in Detroit as part of his Mathematics tour, Sheeran, 32, called upon none other than Eminem for a huge rendition of 'Lose Yourself', which sent the sold-out crowd into raptures.
Taken from Eminem's 2002 film Eight Mile, 'Lose Yourself' has been performed by Slim Shady and Sheeran before, with the duo bringing the house down at the 37th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show back in November 2022.
Before the real-life Marshall Mathers stormed the stage, Sheeran had teased the Motor City crowd with his own acoustic version of the song. Claiming that his band had only practiced the song earlier in the day, the 'Shape Of You' singer then sent everyone into a frenzy by saying: "Let's see how this goes", before his special guest made his way out.
Eminem, decked out in his trademark black hoodie and jeans, tore into the tune and, when it was over, didn't stop at just one song.
Instead, Mathers and Sheeran (that sounds like a GREAT name for a '70s detective duo, actually) rolled right into a cover of 'Stan', from Shady's Marshall Mathers LP album, with Sheeran taking over Dido's usual vocal duties for the chorus.
Prior to the second song, Sheeran told the audience: "He was gonna come on and do one song and I said, 'You can’t come on in Detroit and just do one song.'"
After bringing 'Stan' to a close, Eminem took to the mic one last time to declare his love for his hometown, saying: "I appreciate you, Detroit. I love you!"
Before Sheeran had even gotten into music, he had been a massive fan of the Detroit rapper, revealing that Eminem's music had helped cure his stammer when he was a kid.
During an interview with infamous radio host Howard Stern, Sheeran previously noted, via Metro: "I was going through all sorts of speech therapy.
"When I was nine, my uncle bought me The Marshall Mathers LP, and he just said to my dad, 'This guy’s the next Bob Dylan, you gotta let him listen'. My dad didn’t really clock it.
"He was just like, 'Ok, Edward’s gonna go and listen to that.' And by learning that record and rapping it back to back to back to back, it cured my stutter. And I stopped… talking like that."
On top of this, Sheeran and Em have collaborated on two songs in the past, recording Eminem's single 'The River' together and Sheeran's 2019 hit 'Remember The Name', which also featured 50 Cent.
