Ed Sheeran Is Coming To 'Game Of Thrones' Because Of Maisie Williams

Chart destroyer Ed Sheeran will appear on the upcoming seventh season of HBO's hit series Game Of Thrones, its showrunners have confirmed.

According to EW, executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss revealed Sheeran's guest spot at a panel about the show at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, at the weekend. He joins a sizeable group of musicians to have appeared on the show, including Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros and US metal veterans Mastodon, among others.

Benioff and Weiss say they've been trying to get Sheeran to appear on the show for a while now, after learning that actor Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, is a fan of the Castle On The Hill scribe.

"For years, we were trying to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie and this year we finally did it," Benioff told the panel audience.

Benioff and Weiss — who were joined at the panel by Williams and co-star Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) — didn't elaborate upon the nature or details of Sheeran's role, or whether he'd be subject to one of the many deaths that are likely to take place during the season (because, you know, it's Game Of Thrones), but fans won't have too much longer to wait to find out.

The seventh season of Game Of Thrones is set to premiere on 16 July in the United States. Check out the teaser trailer below.