Beyoncé approached Ed Sheeran about collaborating after she saw him on YouTube.

The pair recently topped the UK charts with a duet of Ed's single 'Perfect' but musician Jools Holland revealed that Beyoncé was impressed with Ed after spotting him on a clip from 'Jools' Annual Hootenanny', which she saw on YouTube.

Jools told Event magazine that Beyoncé saw Ed sing Stevie Wonder's 'Master Blaster' on his 2014 show and Jools added: ''I can't believe Beyoncé has seen me on YouTube. She said to Ed, 'I saw you on Jools.' My head became so big I could hardly get out the door.''

Jools also revealed he is a huge fan of Ed, who is performing on the BBC 'Hootenanny' again this year, and said he reminds him of legendary musician Ray Charles.

He said: ''I remember when he first came on the show. He had such a strength of conviction in the delivery of a song that it cut straight through. It wasn't phoney or fake. It was like Ray Charles said years ago, 'You can like my music, or not like my music, you can like me, or not like me. As long as you know what I am doing is telling the truth.' I see a lot of that in Ed.''

However, he worries the 26-year-old star is too nice for the music business.

He said: ''Nobody likes a nice bloke in music. want a pantomime villain or somebody who is a bit odd. Ed's a nice fellow but I think, in a way, that makes it harder for him.''