Ten years ago, Irish singer Foy Vance released his breakthrough 2013 album joy of nothing, which featured the closing track “Guiding Light” featuring Ed Sheeran. To mark the decade since the song’s debut, Vance and Sheeran reunited with two other singers you’ve probably heard of – Elton John and Keith Urban – for an “Anniversary Edition” of “Guiding Light”.
A video was also added with actress AnnaSophia Robb in the new presentation produced by Johnny McDaid:
In a trio of statements, Sheeran, John and Urban all explained why they wanted to participate in the anniversary edition of “Guiding Light”, with John calling the 2013 track “the most beautiful song”. John said, “When Foy asked me to do it, it was no big deal to me because I’m a big fan of hers.”
“It’s incredible to have the song on the curation because it’s such a beautiful song,” Urban said. It’s like a hymn – it captures all the beauty, the struggle, and everything about being a spiritual being having a human experience. I think this song captures it. So it was an immediate yes from my side to be a part of it.”
Sheeran, who appeared on the original version, reminisced on social media about collaborating on “Guiding Light” a decade earlier, and declared that his appearance on the anniversary presentation “will be the last thing I do for a while.” “It’s definitely been my last collaboration” It’s been a long time since I got into next big album mode.
“What a fitting way to stop by with one of my favorite artists of all time. I’ve been a fan of Foy Vance since I was a teenager, I used to go to see him with my dad and wait to talk to him. Sheeran wrote, “At the time he used to end his shows with this song Guiding Light, but he never released it.”
“When I became successful I met him as an equal and we jammed in Dublin after a show, I asked him to come on tour with me, and he came with me for a few years. We ended up writing together on Multiply with songs like Teneriffe Sea and Afraid Love. It was a dream come true to work with an artist I admired so much. I always asked him why he never released Guiding Light, because it was my favorite song of his, and one day we sang it together at the Ryman in Nashville in 2013, this is the video of the day we played it for the first time Sang together once. Then that time, which I got this morning.
Vance said of the song, “When I wrote ‘Guiding Light,’ I was feeling lost in my life due to the loss of family, friendship, and reason. The music illuminated the darkness. The melody reminded me. Reassured that no matter how long the path may be or how futile it may seem, one must keep going. The ‘guiding light’ is the person or thing that brings you back to a safe place, to lick your wounds and heal. Seeing that That this song has resonated with so many people over so many years is truly a beautiful thing.”