The best songs about exes

Ed Sheeran says he has forgiven his ex, believed to be Ellie Goulding. Photo / AP

Ed Sheeran said he's no longer angry at his ex-girlfriend, rumoured to be Ellie Goulding.

The singer wrote the song Don't about a girlfriend cheating on him with his friend - long believed to be about Ellie Goulding and One Direction member Niall Horan.

"I got over the anger the moment I wrote the song," Sheeran told the Sun.

"It's a song that came at the time that I needed to write. That's the end of it. I'm grateful I could get a song out of it, to be honest. I don't feel it's about anyone anymore, I'm not attached to that.

"The moment you attach someone to a song it becomes more difficult to sing every night," he said.

But Sheeran is certainly not the first person to air his grievances about an ex in his song writing.

The list of musicians who use their former partners as material for their hits grows longer every day.

And when celebrities hook up with celebrities sometimes it's only through the songs that we get an insight into what really happened in their famous relationships.

Check out these other songs written by celebrities about former celebrities:

I Knew You Were Trouble: Taylor Swift

There's no denying famous exes have given Swift plenty of material for her songs but this is perhaps one of the most interesting songs. Reportedly about her ex, Harry Syles, the song seems to perfectly encapsulate his cheeky chappy persona.

Her recent single, Out Of The Woods, is also reported to be about Styles - for a short-lived relationship (it lasted two months), the One Direction member has really given Swift some songwriting value.

Cry Me A River: Justin Timberlake

Timberlake and Britney Spears were the golden couple of late '90s pop. They seemed perfect, squeaky clean and totally meant for each other.

But then they split and it wasn't until Timberlake released this song, with a Spears lookalike in the video, that the world found out she did the dirty. Tut-tut, and there went all our fantasies about their perfect pop offspring.

Cold Case Love: Rihanna about Chris Brown

"I'm torn apart and you know what you did to me was a crime, cold case love " Rihanna croons in her song.

After the popstar suffered physical abuse at the hands of her partner, singer Chris Brown, it seems she took to music to speak of the harrowing time in her life.

Hopefully the pop star has been able to put the horror of the traumatic time behind her.

Wide Awake: Katy Perry

It seems highly likely Ms perry wrote this song about her relationship with ex-husband Russell Brand.

It was released soon after their split and it speaks volumes about a relationship gone awry. But really, who actually thought those two would ever last?

Miley Cyrus: Wrecking Ball

She came in on that Wrecking Ball, but, as Cyrus reveals in the song, it was her partner who ended up wrecking her.

She was engaged to Aussie hunk Liam Hemsworth and they split before she put out this heartfelt number.....it doesn't take a genius to figure out who this one is about.

A Sky Full Of Stars: Coldplay

Any song on the bands' last album, Ghost Stories, could be listed here as all of it appears to be about frontman Chris Martin's split from actress Gwyneth Paltrow, but this is one of the ones they chose to release as a single.

Perhaps the next album will be a cheerier number now that he's rumoured to have bagged himself a hot, younger girlfriend, Jennifer Lawrence.

You're So Vain: Carly Simon

No list of songs about famous exes is complete without this classic.

While Simon has never revealed who the song is about, this writer believes the Warren Beatty rumour ... or maybe the Mick Jagger one, or Cat Stevens.

-AAP