"The A Team" is the debut solo single by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released as a digital download in the United Kingdom on 10 June 2011, serving as the lead single from his debut album, + (2011).
"The A Team" is a folk ballad about a sex worker addicted to crack cocaine, a Class A drug. It was written after Sheeran visited a homeless shelter and heard some of the stories of the lives people had been living.
He wrote the song following a last-minute performance at an event for the homeless. The chorus of "The A Team" was also used by Sheeran in the track "Little Lady", which features Mikill Pane. "Little Lady" is available on the EP No. 5 Collaborations Project.
It became a top 10 hit in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart, with sales of 57,607 copies.
The song was serviced to US radio formats in late 2012 and became a sleeper hit there, gradually rising up the Billboard Hot 100 to peak at number 16, becoming Sheeran's first single on that chart.
On 5 December, the song received a Grammy Award nomination for Song of the Year, Sheeran's first Grammy Award nomination. At the 2012 Brit Awards, it was nominated for Best British Single.