Ed Sheeran never thought he would win a Grammy award.

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran

The 'Castle on the Hill' hitmaker may be hugely successful throughout the world but just a few years ago, he was convinced nothing he did would ever be recognised by the prestigious US ceremony.

However, his close friend Taylor Swift insisted his feelings of being "defeated" were wrong and she was unsurprised when his track 'Thinking Out Loud' went to pick up Best Pop Solo Performance and the coveted Song of the Year Grammys in 2016.

In a piece for Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People, she wrote: "A few years ago, in a rare moment of admitting feeling defeated, Ed said to me, 'I'm never going to win a Grammy.' 'Yes, you are', I said. 'You're going to sweep the whole thing one of these years.'

"It was a few weeks later when he met me in a dance-shoe store in London, where I was picking out rehearsal outfits, and said, 'You have to hear this.' It was a song he'd just finished called 'Thinking Out Loud,' which went on to win Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 2016."

In her short essay the 'Shake It Off' hitmaker also praised her friend's positive attitude and enthusiasm.

She wrote: "He is protected by an impenetrable and ever-present armour of enthusiasm that has helped him endure any setback, letdown or underestimation.

"His reaction to any idea that fails is to almost immediately come up with a new one. He's like a fighter who pops back up on his feet before you even noticed he'd been knocked down."

Taylor knows the 'Galway Girl' singer is constantly creating "brilliant" new material.

She concluded her piece: "Congratulations to my friend Ed, for the legacy you've already built and the brilliant hook you probably just came up with five minutes ago."