Harry Style, Coldplay back Ed Sheeran in music education funding campaign

Harry Style, Coldplay, Elton John, and other stars have joined forces with Ed Sheeran in a call for more music education from the UK government.

The Thinking Out Loud singer and Ed Sheeran Foundation founder, 34, has requested British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in an open letter to commit £250 million to help the "next generation" of musicians from government funds.

"As an industry, we bring in £7.6bn into the UK economy, yet the next generation is not there to take the reins. Last year was the first in over 20 years without a UK global top 10 single or album in the charts," the letter read.

The letter was co-signed by industry stalwarts including Style, John, Coldplay, Stormzy, Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, Annie Lennox, Fred Again, and James Bay, per the Ed Sheeran Foundation website.

"Artists and industry can't deliver on the world stage for the UK without schools, youth clubs, and stages at home," the musicians pointed out in the letter.

"We collectively ask for a £250m UK music education package this spring to repair decades of dismantling music... Music in and out of school should be for all, not a few."

They have also mapped out a five-point plan to "repair decades of dismantling music," demanding to train 1,000 more music teachers, back grassroots music spaces, fund music provision in schools in a similar way to sports, to provide 500 music industry apprenticeships, and to diversify the curriculum.

The letter also backed the pleas for help for live music that Myles Smith and Ezra Collective issued at the BRIT Awards.