All On My Mind

Album: Encore (2017)
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Songfacts®:

  • This slinky stomper was co-penned by Ed Sheeran and his "Shape Of You" songwriting partner, Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid. The collaboration came about through Gregg Nadel, the president of Elektra records who first heard the Brits' demo for "All On My Mind" through Erik Eger who manages McDaid. "He's a fan of Anderson's," Nadel told Billboard of Eger. "We were listening to a bunch of things, talking about potential mixers and different ideas and, he said, 'Hey man, have you heard this song that Johnny and Ed wrote? It might be a good song for Anderson.'"

    Nadel handles the marketing Sheehan for Atlantic Records in addition to running Elektra, so he already was in contact with the British star. He recalled: "I went to him and said, 'Hey, would it be okay if I played this for Anderson? I'm really really excited about this record we're making and maybe it's a song he would consider cutting.' And he said sure."

    Anderson was keen as soon as he heard the demo. "It has a lot of elements of stuff we've been talking about," Nadel said, "but he really wanted to also make it his own and add his own lyrical twists that he could relate to more personally. Ed, Johnny and everyone was open to that idea so Anderson went in and started working on some of the verses."

    Nadel admitted that when he sent Sheeran a completed version of Anderson East's re-interpreted "All On My Mind," he was "a little nervous." However, the Brit immediately loved it. "He could not have been happier with how it turned out," Nadel said. "He's really excited about it and really hopes it does well."
  • The song topped the Adult Alternative Songs tally dated December 23, 2017 becoming Anderson East's first #1 on any Billboard chart. His previous best had been the besting the #2 peak of his album Delilah on Heatseekers Albums in January 2016. Prior to "All On My Mind", the Alabama native's best-charting song, had been the #18 peak achieved by his first Adult Alternative Songs hit "Satisfy Me" in September 2015.

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