Ed Sheeran says he's super proud of Harry Styles' success as a solo artist

Ed Sheeran is "super proud" of Harry Styles after watching his friend become the "biggest solo artist in the world".

The Castle on the Hill hitmaker was beginning his career at the same time the As It Was singer was finding fame with One Direction, and while he finds it "weird" looking at how far they've come, he couldn't be happier that his pal's success has even eclipsed his own.

Speaking on the Sprout podcast, he said: "When we catch up, we catch up. It's like a conversation. It's a chat.

"I've known Harry since I was 19 and he was 16. When we both started, there was a guitarist called Chris Leonard whom I wrote Lego House and Give Me Love with.

"He used to play with the One Direction lads and me and Harry used to sleep at his house together.

"What Makes You Beautiful went number one, + went number one the same day and we're both staying at the house at that point.

"So now to be where we are, he's on a stadium tour and I'm on a stadium tour, it's quite weird looking back at the journey.

"There's something about going through your formative years, you know, like it's quite weird. 

"Harry's obviously on top of the world right now and has gone from being in the biggest boy band in the world to then being the biggest solo artist in the world.

"And it's just an amazing journey to see. I'm, like, really, super proud of him."

The 32-year-old star also compared his friendship with Harry to his bond with Taylor Swift.

He added: "It's the same thing as Taylor, like, there's rarely people that totally understand you. Both of them are solo artists and at this level when you kind of talk, there's an understanding there that you don't necessarily get from everyone."

But Ed won't be getting another tattoo to match Harry. Both singers previously had penguins inked on their skin.

He said: "We've both slowed down a bit with the tattoos, when you're in your early 20s, you're like, let's get loads."

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