Anne-Marie and Ryan McMullan announced as Ed Sheeran's UK tour support

Ed Sheeran's UK tour kicks off tomorrow (April 12) in Dublin, and the support acts for his 15-date arena trek across the UK and the Republic of Ireland have been revealed.

Pop starlet Anne-Marie and up-and-coming multi-instrumentalist Ryan McMullan will get the crowd warmed up before Ed takes to the stage, a fresh and modern mix of talent that will appeal to each end of the spectrum that Sheeran's broad range of music resonates with.

Anne-Marie is a household name in her own right, with two solo Top 20 singles under her belt in the form of Alarm and Ciao Adios. She also appeared alongside Sean Paul on Clean Bandit's Christmas Number 1 single Rockabye. Her signature pop party-starters will appeal to fans of Ed's singles such as Shape of You, Sing and You Need Me, I Don't Need You.

MORE: Ed Sheeran's Official Top 10 biggest songs revealed

Ryan McMullan will appeal to the fans of Ed Sheeran's balladry, and has worked with one of Ed's biggest collaborators in the past - Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody. Ed noticed Ryan when he was supporting Foy Vance in London, and asked him there and then if he was busy in March and April. Pretty neat that one of the world's biggest pop stars approaches you after your gig, right?!

For those of you who may be taking a trip to the US to see Ed, none other than James Blunt will be flanking him when he hits the road stateside. Just keep them two away from swords...

Ed's UK and Ireland tour dates are as follows:

Wed 12 April – 3 Arena, Dublin

Thu 13 April – 3 Arena, Dublin

Sun 16 April – SSE Hydro, Glasgow

Mon 17 April – SSE Hydro, Glasgow

Wed 19 April – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

Thu 20 April – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

Sat 22 April – Manchester Arena

Sun 23 April – Manchester Arena

Tue 25 April – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

Wed 26 April – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

Fri 28 April – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham

Sat 29 April – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham

Mon 1 May – The O2 Arena, London

Tue 2 May – The O2 Arena, London

Wed 3 May – The O2 Arena, London (extra date)