In an social media post shared to his accounts, Ed Sheeran is opening up about what he was experiencing in his personal life when writing his new album, “Subtract.” His wife, Cherry Seaborn, was diagnosed with a tumor when she was pregnant with the couple’s second child.

In a diary entry, Sheeran wrote that a “series of events” changed his life in 2022 and led him to write his “deepest, darkest thoughts” into the album. 

“Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth,” he wrote in the post.

“My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly, and I found myself in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter,” Sheeran continued.

Jamal Edwards, a music entrepreneur, died last year at the age of 31—his last Instagram post was dedicated to his “brother,” Ed Sheeran. In 2017, Sheeran released the pop hit “Shape of You,” which led to a court battle in 2022 as he was accused of plagiarizing the song “Oh Why” by Sami Switch. He won the case last spring.

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“I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety,” the diary entry says. “I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking but not being able to break through for air.”

Sheeran and Seaborn have two daughters, Lyra and Jupiter.

While there is no further information on the condition of Ed Sheeran’s wife, tumors while pregnant are a rare diagnosis—but they do happen, both benign tumors and malignant ones.

According to Medline, the most common cancers in pregnancy are breast cancer, cervical cancer, lymphoma and melanoma. Cancer itself does not often harm the baby, and some cancer treatments are safe during pregnancy.

Related: My birth story: I was pregnant as my mother was dying

“I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out,” he wrote. “And in just over a week I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.”

Sending our best well wishes to the Sheeran family. His new album comes out this month.