Ed Sheeran taking break from touring amid legal issues

Ed Sheeran's 'Divide' tour becomes the highest-grossing concert tour ever.

Millions of fans will have to wait another day to hear their favorite crooner strum his guitar on stage.

Ed Sheeran announced he will stop touring after nearly two years on the road, saying it will be his "last gig for probably 18 months."

The 28-year-old finished the 260th show of his "Divide" tour, of which 9 million people attended. His fourth album, "No. 6 Collaborations Project" debuted at No. 1 in a dozen countries.

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9 million people, 893 days, 46 countries, 175 cities, 260 shows, 268 touring crew, 193265 miles travelled, 2 broken arms, 3 marriages, 4 babies. What a wild ride this Divide tour has been. The whole process of writing the album starting in 2015, then recording it in 2016, promoting it, setting out on the road to play it for all of you guys. It’s so weird to put it to bed and move on. Thank you to everyone involved in this whole Divide process, all the people who helped make the album, all the people who helped promote the album, all the fans who listened and came to watch, this wouldn’t be possible without you. Most of all I want to thank my fantastic touring team, who have given up their lives for 2 and a half years to help me achieve my dreams. Thank you for all of your hard work and constant friendship. The Divide tour - 2017 -2019. Officially the biggest tour of all time, so weird to say that, and we survived it !

A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos) on Aug 28, 2019 at 8:47am PDT

Sheeran's "Divide" tour set a new record for the highest-grossing tour ever, surpassing U2's 360° tour, according to the Associated Press. Sheeran's tour made more than $736 million in revenue while U2's made over $735 million. But, Sheeran's tour lasted longer and these numbers weren't adjusted for inflation.

However, Sheeran's unplugging of his mic won't be all sunshine and daisies. In about two weeks, he has a scheduled court date over allegations that he ripped off Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in his hit track "Thinking Out Loud." The company that owns partial copyrights to Gaye's songs is suing the pop star for $100 million.

This is not Sheeran's first run-in with copyright violation allegations. He currently doesn't receive royalties for his hit "Shape of You" after musician Sam Chokri accused him of stealing the chorus from his song "Oh Why." England's high court is set to hear that case next year.

Sheeran, who is known as a rather savvy real-estate investor as well, has gotten into hot water over a huge pond he built on his English estate. His neighbors contend he just uses it as a swimming pool and not as a "wildlife preservation," which was what Sheeran got permits for.

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He lives there with his wife, Cherry Seaborn, whom he married in December 2018.