Ed Sheeran forming his own boyband

Ed Sheeran is creating his own boyband to support him on tour.

In addition to crafting his own hits, the British tunesmith has written for acts including One Direction and Justin Bieber, and wants to found a boyband he can write songs for and take on tour.

"(The band will be) really, really decent," he tells Rolling Stone magazine. "Superpop, but obviously credible. I'm gonna put three or four boys together and do all the songs, take them on the stadium tour with me."

According to editors at the U.S. music publication, auditions for the band are already under way and Ed has already written a number of tracks for his new proteges.

The 26-year-old is reportedly set to begin touring later this year (17), taking in arenas around the world before moving on to stadium gigs next year (18).

And Ed says his ultimate goal is to be like country music legend George Strait, who embarks on a short stadium tour every few years.

"I want to do stadiums everywhere," he explains. "Like George Strait's level - he tours every four years, does a couple of stadiums and then f**ks off again."

Since its release last Friday (03Mar17) the star's latest album ÷ (divide) has proved a mega hit, with tracks from the record looking set to flood the U.K. singles chart.

In a midweek update ahead of the release of the official chart on Friday (10Mar17), nine of the spots in the rundown's top ten were taken up by tracks from ÷ (divide).