Celebrity Birthdays, February 17: Ed Sheeran and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Singer Ed Sheeran and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt are celebrating their birthdays today.

Ed Sheeran, 24

Singer-songwriter and musician Ed Sheeran turns 24 today. In 2010, after moving to Los Angeles, Sheeran released three EPs. Loose Change, Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford and Songs I Wrote with Amy. He became more mainstream with the release of the EP No. 5 Collaborations Project in 2011. It reached No. 2 on the iTunes charts and Sheeran went on to sign with Asylum/Atlantic Records.

Sheeran's debut album + was released in 2011 and topped the UK albums chart. The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, with the single, "The A Team," peaking at No. 16 on the Hot 100 chart. He performed the single at the United Kingdom's Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in June 2012. He also performed a cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Sheeran contributed to Taylor Swift's fourth album Red and also worked with One Direction on their Take Me Home album. In 2013, "The A Team" received a nomination for Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards. The next year, He earned a Best New Artist Grammy nomination. Sheeran was also featured on "Old School Love" by Lupe Fiasco on his fifth studio album Tetsuo & Youth.

In 2014, Sheeran released his second studio album X, which peaked at No. 1 on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. The lead single "Sing" won the MTV Award for Best Male Video and peaked at No. 1 on the UK singles chart and No. 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In December 2014, Sheeran was named the most-streamed artist in the world by Spotify.


Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 34

Actor, director, screenwriter, producer and editor Joseph Gordon-Levitt turns 34 today. Gordon-Levitt began his career by starring in several television commercials for products like Cocoa Puffs and Pop-Tarts. After a few minor roles in television and the starring role in the 1994 Disney film Angels in the Outfield, he rose to fame with his role as Tommy Solomon on the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun.

In 1999, Gordon-Levitt starred in the film 10 Things I Hate About You and in 2002, he voiced Jim Hawkins in Disney's Treasure Planet. In 2009, he starred opposite Zooey Deschanel in the film (500) Days of Summer, receiving great reviews for his performance and earning a Golden Globe nomination.

Gordon-Levitt went on to star in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Inception alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, The Dark Knight Rises, Premium Rush, Looper, Lincoln and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Gordon=Levitt transitioned into directing with two short films, Sparks and Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo. In 2013, he directed, wrote and starred in Don Jon alongside Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Tony Danza. He will star in the upcoming biographical film The Walk based on the story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974.


image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com

{"code":"internal_server_error","message":"

There has been a critical error on your website.<\/p>

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.<\/a><\/p>","data":{"status":500},"additional_errors":[]}