Washington DC [US], September 18 (ANI): Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran shared why he turned down an offer to perform the first gig in space, as it terrifies him, reported People.

Sheeran, whose new album 'Play' is out now, opened up about receiving an offer to perform the 'first gig in space' and why he turned it down.

'I was offered to go to space a while ago, you know? And it terrifies me,' said Sheeran, adding, 'I want to go to space when it's like flying to France and 40,000 people have done it, and you can just book it online,' as quoted by People.

'I don't want to be a guinea pig for that, because it still is dangerous,' he explained. 'There's places on this planet that I haven't been to, I've never been to Greenland, I would love to go to Greenland, there's places on this planet I would far rather go to than space.'

Sheeran recalled having a conversation 'about doing a gig there, doing a first gig in space. I'm sure lots of people got that email, but, yeah, it terrifies me.'

'Mate, I ain't doing it, I've got kids,' he said, as reported by People.

'I'm not going to risk that for a Guinness World Record something or other,' added Sheeran. 'I'm not going to risk my kids not having a dad.'

His latest album, 'Play', was released on September 12.

In another recent interview, Sheeran revealed that his next album, Rewind, is already almost finished.

'I made Play and Rewind at the same time,' he said. 'We finished Play first because it felt like the most exciting one. So, Rewind is... I'd say two months off being totally locked and loaded and ready to go. And I guess at some point in the next 18 months, it will come out.'

He added, 'But yeah, they're very much like twin albums, I guess. One was one lent more into Indian culture and one lent more into nostalgia. So they kind of veered off in different directions,' reported People. (ANI)