HE can count Ed Sheeran among his fans and now 16-year-old Lewis Smith will be performing on home ground when he returns to play The Joiners on Monday ( May 15) with his band.

The talented singer/songwriter and guitarist from Hampshire launched his debut EP at the Southampton venue last year.

And he's in big demand, performing weekly at venues across the South Coast, including the Icebreaker Festival 2017 and the Mayflower Park fireworks back in November.

But praise for Lewis, who lives in Droxford, could not get any better than that of 'Shape of You' singer Ed Sheeran who hailed him “a better singer and songwriter than I was at that age” after hearing him play.

Their meeting came after Lewis faced a life-threatening illness that forced him to give up sport but led him to pick up a guitar. Doctors discovered a sinus infection between his skull and his brain and he was rushed from Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth to Southampton General, where he underwent six hours of emergency surgery.

Neurosurgeons performed a craniotomy – removal of a section of skull – to allow Lewis’s brain to swell without pressurising the skull.

For 18 months he faced further infections and more operations before finally having a titanium plate successfully inserted into the gap in his skull, in September 2014.

The sports-mad teenager was no longer able to play contact sports and he looked to singing, writing songs and guitar playing as a new pastime. This quickly became his passion.

During his recovery his mum Nicky asked her son if he had one wish what it would be, and he said to meet and sing with Ed Sheeran. After she contacted the Starlight Children’s Foundation, without telling Lewis, as well as his surgeon to see if he’d be “worthy” they told her he was but it could take up to a couple of years to organise. But within a couple of weeks Ed Sheeran’s management got back to them and said he’d like to do it.

They flew Lewis to Prague to see him in concert and meet him backstage. At the meeting the two sang one of Ed Sheeran’s songs, Tenerife Sea, together and Lewis played him some of his own songs.

The superstar told Lewis: “That’s absolutely amazing. You’re a much better singer and songwriter than I was at your age – keep going and keep writing.”

Lewis says:“I haven’t really looked back. I think music has taken over the past couple of years. It was hard going through all that stuff and seeing my parents upset but music and being with my friends just took over. Instead of dwelling on not being able to do football I needed to find something else I was interested in and started guitar and singing lessons.

“Ed Sheeran said to me you will always succeed if you keep going, and that I was a better singer and writer than he was at my age. Hopefully one day I will be able to support him in concert.

Find out more at lewissmithofficial.co.uk.