"Thinking Out Loud" is a romantic ballad written by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge. Sheeran and Wadge wrote it in February 2014, in a session of about 20 minutes that began at 2:00 am on 4 February. It was the last song recorded for Sheeran's second studio album, × (2014), produced by Jake Gosling, and was cut the following day at Sticky Studios in Windlesham, Surrey. The lyrics draw on everlasting love and on Sheeran's girlfriend, Athina Andrelos. Set in D major at 79 bpm, with blue-eyed soul influences, the album version runs 4:41. Journalists compared its bass pattern and drums to Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" (1973). It was the third of five singles taken from ×.
Critics were mixed, and Billboard called it a "sleek update" of the classic style. The song reached number one in the UK in November 2014 and was the first single to spend a full year in the UK top 40. In the United States it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 58th Grammy Awards it won Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
