Ed Sheeran gave Justin Bieber his ‘Love Yourself’ hit because his friends dismissed it as “Meh”.

The ‘I Don’t Care’ singer, 33, joked about how the song then went on to be a massive, history making chart-topper for his pal Justin, 30, while talking to fans in a break between songs at his concert at Hard Rock Live in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood.

He said before playing his rendition of the track: “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’.”

Ed added he then played it for Justin who told him he wanted it, saying: “I went, ‘Cool, have it’, and then it got very big.”

Justin’s take on ‘Love Yourself” topped the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart in 2016, making him the youngest artist to have a No1 single in the rankings in the publication’s history.

Ed added it’s success prompted his friends to ask why he would give it away in the first place.

He said he told them: “You told me it wasn’t good.”

Even though the song is associated with Justin, Ed’s songwriting credits allow him to play it at gigs.

Ed told the story during a gig on Friday (03.05.24), and he’s also due to perform on Saturday as part of Hard Rock Beach Club’s Formula 1 line-up ahead of the qualifying session race.

Other entertainers at the show include Don Omar, Kaskade and Cedric Gervais.

The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix takes place this Sunday, with Marc Anthony set to sing the National Anthem.