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D'oh! Ed Sheeran heads from 'Game of Thrones' to 'Simpsons'

It's a long way from the Seven Kingdoms to Springfield -- unless you're the red-headed singer who's about to make a cameo on another hit show.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
sheerancollage

Ed Sheeran knows there's no need for armor in Springfield.

 HBO/Fox

Singer Ed Sheeran will head from Westeros to Springfield, shifting from a "Game of Thrones" cameo to an animated appearance on a long-running Fox comedy.

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Sheeran's appearance on the Sunday premiere of season 7 of HBO's fantasy series cast him as a Lannister soldier who meets Arya Stark (Maisie Williams). His appearance hasn't been warmly received on social media, with many viewers arguing that the unsubtle cameo of Sheeran singing snaps watchers out of the fictional world. (To be fair, a show that features dragons isn't a historical documentary.)

The internet reaction seems to have affected the singer's own use of social media. Sheeran's Twitter account briefly disappeared on Monday, then returned with only three tweets, all from April 10, 2013, left undeleted. His Twitter bio now reads: "I don't use this anymore, please follow me on @teddysphotos on instagram."

The move to animated comedy via "The Simpsons" may be a less controversial decision, since the animated show rarely seeks to hide its celebrity cameos.

"This year continues to be equally surreal and amazing," Sheeran wrote Monday on Instagram when sharing his animated image. "Watch out for this one, me and Lisa have a whole thing going on."

Entertainment Weekly reports that Sheeran will play Brendan, a -- you guessed it -- musician. According to EW, Sheeran is a big "Simpsons" fan who even has a tattoo of the show's three-eyed fish, Blinky.

The 29th season of "The Simpsons" starts October 1. There's no word yet on when Sheeran's episode will air.