Ed Sheeran's 2019 UK and European tour support acts announced as The Darkness, James Bay and Zara Larsson

The support acts for Ed Sheeran's upcoming Divide tour have been announced, with three previous Number 1 artists set to warm up the crowds on the 30-date European summer tour.

James Bay and Zara Larsson will open up for the 26-date jaunt across continental Europe, beginning on May 24 in Lyon. Taking to Twitter, Bay said he is "excited and honoured" to be joining Sheeran on the European leg of the record-breaking stadium tour.

For the tour's final four UK dates taking place in Leeds and Ipswich in August, Ed will be joined by glam rock favourites The Darkness, who picked up five UK Top 10 singles and a Number 1 album in the early-mid noughties.

UPDATE (March 1): Lewis Capaldi has been confirmed as a further support for the UK dates of Ed's tour, which are now almost sold out. The news comes on the same day Lewis picks up his first ever Number 1 single with Someone You Loved.

At the end of 2018 it was announced by Pollstar that the Divide tour had grossed $432 million (£341.7m) after selling over 4.86 million tickets - the highest ever recorded for a touring artist in a single year.

The Divide album was the Number 1 biggest album of 2017, and ranked at Number 3 on 2018's biggest albums list, based on streaming and physical and download sales.

See Ed Sheeran's full Official Chart history here.

Article image: Rex