Ed Sheeran has revealed that the song Camera was almost released as a duet with Justin Bieber for the album Justice. Why didn't the collaboration that would have made the track so successful finally happen?
In the world of pop music, the most fascinating secrets aren't always the ones that get released. Sometimes they're the songs that were lost to time, collaborations that never got done, or tracks that were locked away on a hard drive. Ed Sheeran revealed one such mystery when he talked about the song Camera from his latest album Play. As he said, the track was almost released as a duet with Justin Bieber for the album Justice – but it never happened.
Sheeran left fans speechless when he revealed on SiriusXM: "I wrote the song for =, but then it became a duet with Justin Bieber for Justice. It was never released, but there's a version with Justin on it. It's really cool, it's just out there somewhere... in the air." This sentence was enough to cause panic among fans who started dreaming about what another collab between the two superstars would sound like.
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The revelation was no coincidence, as Sheeran and Bieber already have two collaborations behind them that made history. In 2015, Sheeran gave Bieber Love Yourself, which became a huge hit and one of the most beloved songs of the decade. A few years later, in 2019, they released I Don't Care together, which swept the charts around the world and was played non-stop on radio and in clubs. The fact that there was a third collaboration that was left on the shelf makes the whole story even more fascinating for fans.
Camera is a song about memories and how the most important moments in our lives are more magical when they are not captured on camera or mobile. Sheeran explained that he uniquely remembers his first concert at the age of 11, as if he was playing to 40.000 people. If there had been video then, perhaps the magic would have been lost. He said the same about his marriage proposal to his wife, emphasizing that memory has a way of making moments more beautiful than reality.
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The idea that Camera was almost a duet with Bieber adds another dimension to the song. Imagine Sheeran's pop melody combined with Bieber's R&B style, in a track that talks about how precious the moments that only remain in our memories are. It's perhaps the most striking example of how a song that was never released can acquire an almost mythical character.
Pop music fans love "lost songs." From Britney Spears' unreleased tracks to Kanye West's leaks, the stories surrounding them fuel countless theories and discussions. A lost Sheeran–Bieber collab isn't just another unreleased track, but a musical moment that could have been written into pop history.
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Sheeran's revelation comes at a time when both artists are in the midst of a rebirth. Ed Sheeran just released Play, which moves between his familiar pop-folk identity and more experimental, global sounds. He's also gearing up for the Loop Tour, a North American stadium tour that promises to be one of the biggest projects of his career.
Justin Bieber, on the other hand, is living his own "new era." After two chart-topping Swag albums, he's set to headline Coachella 2026, marking his full return to the top of the pop scene. According to sources, he's more ready than ever to take complete control of his career, leaving the difficult times behind.
The big question is whether Camera with Bieber will ever be released. Sheeran has been clear that it probably won't happen, but fans know that in the music world, anything is possible. How many times have we seen lost songs resurface years later, either as leaks or as official bonus tracks? Maybe one day the unreleased duet will find its way to Spotify and go viral.
Until then, Camera will remain a story that combines the magic of memories with the hype of an unfulfilled collaboration. A song that has special significance in itself, but which could have made history if it had been released as the third collaboration between Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber. And perhaps ultimately this sense of "lost" is what makes it even more charming.
