Ed Sheeran
Photo: Kevin Mazur/BMA2015/WireImage
1. Ed Sheeran has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
2. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk.
3. His dad John is an art historian, his mum Imogen designs jewellery and his brother Matthew is a classical composer.
4. According to Sheeran, the album that introduced him to music was Van Morrison’s Irish Heartbeat.
5. Sheeran slept on American actor Jamie Foxx’s sofa for six weeks before he was famous. During this time Foxx took him to an open mic event that he was hosting. Telling the tale of the night Foxx said: “It was like 800 black people, all black, just the best musicians, and I say, ‘Ladies and gentleman, Ed Sheeran!’ He pops out, with red hair and a ukulele. It was just like a movie. I said, ‘Well, let’s see what the kid has.’ And he went out there on that ukulele — got a standing ovation in 12 minutes. And the rest was history.”
6. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (pronounced “plus”), was released in September 2011. It topped the UK and Australian charts, reached number five in the US, and has since been certified seven-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single “The A Team”, which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
7. He started off by singing in the church choir at the age of 4. He learned to play the guitar at a young age as well and even released an EP at age 14. Sheeran moved to London when he was 16 in 2008 and performed over 300 live shows in 2009.
8. He’s a second cousin of Gordon Burns, presenter of ’80s UK TV game show The Krypton Factor.
9. In June 2015, Forbes listed his earnings at $57 million for the previous 12 months, and ranked him the 27th-highest-earning celebrity in the world.
10. For his 26th birthday, Pizza Express created the Ed-Abrese, a birthday pizza ‘cake’ made from Calabrese ingredients.
11. He grew up with a perforated eardrum, a squint, a stutter and a port-wine birthmark (later lasered off) around one eye.
12. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. “The A Team” was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John.
13. GQ magazine voted Ed the ‘Worst Dressed Man of 2012’.
14. He names his guitars they are: Lloyd, Felix, Cyril, Trevor, Keith, Nigel and the one that does battle re-creations at weekends, James The Second.
15. Ed Sheeran had a lot of tattoos of many random things. Most of his tattoos are along his arms. Included in his sleeve of tats is a cup of tea, a ketchup bottle, the word ‘Prince’ signifying his love of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Puss in Boots, the phrase ‘Festina Lente’, his family tree, a section of Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and a tribute to Taylor Swift Red tattoo. The Red tattoo was a thank you to Taylor Swift for getting him started in the business.
16. Two of his albums are in the list of the best-selling albums in UK chart history: x (at number 20) and ÷ (at number 34).
17. Ed Sheeran has written four songs for One Direction. There’s “Little Things”, “Moments”, “Over Again” and “18”.
18. The first concert he ever went to was Green Day at Wembley Arena in London, England.
19. Taylor Swift contacted Sheeran after hearing his music while touring Australia in March 2012. He later co-wrote and provided vocals for “Everything Has Changed”, a single featured on Swift’s fourth studio album, Red.
20. In July 2017, Sheeran appeared in a cameo on Game of Thrones in a scene together with actress Maisie Williams, who plays the character Arya Stark.
21. Sheeran was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.
Important Dates In The Life Of Ed Sheeran:
On this day in music
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10
Oct
2023
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK chart with his seventh studio album Autumn Variations. It became his seventh UK No.1 album and debuted at No.4 on the Billboard 200 in the US.
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18
Jul
2023
Figures released by industry body UK Music suggested music tourism contributed £6.6bn to the economy with over 1.1m people coming to the UK from overseas in 2022 to attend a concert, peaking at over one million for the first time. UK Music, which represents the industry, said another 13 million music tourists travelled within the UK to attend gigs by artists including Ed Sheeran and Elton John, contributing to a total music tourism yearly spend of £6.6bn, which is estimated to sustain 56,000 jobs.
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30
Jun
2023
English singer-songwriter Maisie Peters was at No.1 on the UK chart with her second studio album The Good Witch. Peters became the youngest solo British female artist to top the UK album charts in nearly a decade. In 2021, she left Atlantic Records and signed with Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man Records.
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19
May
2023
Ed Sheeran, Adele and Harry Styles were among the UK's richest people under the age of 35, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. Ed Sheeran, 32, was ranked the seventh wealthiest with a fortune of £300m, helped by his fast-selling sixth album Subtract. Adele was in ninth place with £165m. Harry Styles had the biggest-selling UK album last year with 'Harry's House'. The 29-year-old's wealth was said to be £150m.
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13
May
2023
Singer-songwriter Amy Wadge had a jury’s verdict tattooed on her arm after she and Ed Sheeran were victorious in a copyright trial over the track 'Thinking Out Loud'. Ms Wadge, who is based in Wales, co-wrote the song with Sheeran, her friend of 17 years. A court in New York ruled the pair had not copied Marvin Gaye’s 'Let’s Get It On', despite claims from heirs of Gaye's co-writer. The tattoo reads "independently created" in a typewriter font.
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28
Apr
2023
Ed Sheeran sang and played guitar to a New York jury at a civil trial that would decide whether he copied Marvin Gaye's Let's Get it On. For roughly an hour, Sheeran described his entire musical career and performed parts of the song in question, 'Thinking Out Loud'. Heirs of Gaye's co-writer were claiming that he stole elements of the chart-topping hit. Sheeran also reportedly told the packed courtroom: "I'm not the world's most talented guitar player." Sheeran later won the case.
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30
Sep
2022
Ed Sheeran was ordered to stand trial in the US over claims he copied his hit song 'Thinking Out Loud' from Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On'. A judge denied Sheeran's bid to dismiss the case, saying a jury should decide on the similarities between the songs. The claim was originally lodged in 2018, by investment banker David Pullman and a company called Structured Asset Sales, which had acquired a portion of the estate of 'Let's Get It On' co-writer Ed Townsend. Seeking $100m (£90m) in damages, they alleged that Sheeran and his co-writer Amy Wadge "copied and exploited, without authorisation or credit".
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6
Apr
2022
Ed Sheeran won a British High Court copyright battle over his 2017 hit 'Shape of You'. Judge Antony Zacaroli ruled that Sheeran had "neither deliberately nor subconsciously copied" Sami Chokri's song 'Oh Why'. Chokri, a grime artist who performs under the name Sami Switch, had claimed the "Oh I" hook in Sheeran's track was "strikingly similar" to an "Oh why" refrain in his own track. After the ruling, Sheeran said "It's really damaging to the songwriting industry. There are only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music. Coincidence is bound to happen if 60,000 songs are being released every day on Spotify. That's 22 million songs a year and there's only 12 notes that are available." 'Shape of You' was the UK's best-selling song of 2017 in the UK and is Spotify's most-streamed ever.
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29
Mar
2022
A televised concert fundraising money for the humanitarian appeal in Ukraine raised more than £15 million. Held at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham the show featured Ukrainian Eurovision winner Jamala, Manic Street Preachers, Ed Sheeran, Cabello and Nile Rodgers and Chic.
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26
Feb
2022
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK chart with his fifth studio album = ("Equals"). Selling 139,000 units in its first week it outperformed the rest of the week's Top 30 combined. The album also debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, becoming Sheeran's fourth chart-topping album in the United States.
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24
Dec
2021
LadBaby made chart history when his song 'Sausage Rolls for Everyone', a sausage roll-themed parody of Ed Sheeran and Elton John's No.1 single 'Merry Christmas' and also featuring Sheeran and John, debuted at No.1 in the UK Singles Chart. It gave the Nottingham-born YouTuber and musician his fourth consecutive Christmas No.1 single. LadBaby became only the second act in history, after The Beatles, to secure four Christmas No.1 singles, but was the very first to achieve four consecutive Christmas chart-toppers, surpassing the records of both The Beatles and The Spice Girls.
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29
Jan
2021
Ed Sheeran had paid £28.2 million in tax in the past year according to The Sunday Times Tax List 2021, which features the UK’s 50 biggest taxpayers. The singer had earned a total of £70 million through his various companies in 2020.
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20
Jan
2021
Some of the UK's biggest music stars sent an open letter to the British government demanding action to ensure visa-free touring in the European Union. Sir Elton John, Liam Gallagher, Ed Sheeran, Sting and Radiohead were among 110 artists who signed the letter. It said they had been "shamefully failed" by the government over post-Brexit travel rules for UK musicians.
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11
Dec
2019
Ed Sheeran was named the UK's artist of the decade by the Official Charts Company. Sheeran achieved the milestone after a combined run of 12 No.1 singles and albums between 2010 and 2019 - more than any other artist. He's also had the most weeks (79) at No.1 in both the album and singles charts in this period.
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22
Nov
2019
Pollstar published their list of the top touring artists of the 2010s in North America. U2 came in first with a gross of $1,038,104,132, followed by The The Rolling Stones ($929,196,083), Ed Sheeran ($922,361,663), Taylor Swift ($899,627,048) and Bon Jovi ($868,715,392).
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29
Oct
2019
Ed Sheeran became the UK’s richest star under 30 according to the annual Rich List of Britain’s wealthiest young stars with an estimated fortune of £170million - almost double his worth last year. Coming in second was Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe with £90million and former One Direction singer Harry Styles was placed at number three.
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1
Oct
2019
Accounts released revealed that Ed Sheeran Ltd, made a gross profit of £23,770,262, equating to £65,124 a day during 2018. The accounts also showed that he paid £4,506,139 in tax. Separate figures for total earnings before tax, costs and fees found the singer generated £89.8m last year, putting him below Coldplay at £94.2m and U2 at £96.3m, according to Forbes.
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26
Aug
2019
Ed Sheeran eneded his ÷ (Divide) tour with a show at Chantry Park in Ipswich, England, near his hometown of Framlingham. The tour started on March 16, 2017 and set the record for highest-grossing tour, earning $775.6 million over 255 shows.
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2
Aug
2019
Ed Sheeran broke U2's tour record when his Divide tour became the biggest, most attended and highest grossing tour of all time. By the time the tour ended he would have spent 893 days on the road, compared to the 760 days U2 toured. Sheeran also surpassed Bono and co's tour attendance record of 7.3 million with a gig in France in May of this year.
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21
Jul
2019
Ed Sheeran spent £4million on new properties in a bid to stop his neighbours moaning about the noise.
He bought two houses next door to his £19.8million mansion in London. The singer had also acquired a flat above his Notting Hill bar. Sheeran’s impressive portfolio of 22 properties had cost him almost £47million.
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18
Jul
2019
Ed Sheeran broke yet another streaming record. His latest collaborative album No. 6 Collaborations Project, racked up 69 million streams in a month on Spotify, which was the highest by any artist. This new record wasn’t the first that Sheeran had broken. His last album Divide set a new record of 56 million streams on the day of release, while ‘Shape Of You’ picked up over 10 million streams on its first day.
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10
Jun
2019
Ed Sheeran was the most-played artist in the UK in 2018, while ‘Feel It Still’ by Portugal The Man was 2018's most-played song. Sheeran topped the chart despite not releasing new music; and without an entry in the Top 10 most-played tracks, suggesting his entire catalogue of hits remains on rotation on the radio. It was the third time in four years that he's been the UK's most-played artist. Calvin Harris came second and Little Mix were third.
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23
Apr
2019
Ed Sheeran was forced to knock down an outdoor sauna and ditch a huge pub sign at his £1.5 million Suffolk mansion after he failed to get planning permission. He had named his home pub after his wife Cherry Lancaster Seaborn, calling it The Lancaster Lock - but council officers weren't happy. They demanded he take down the 16ft sign after finding he'd broken planning rules during a site visit.
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1
Apr
2019
Ed Sheeran's wildlife pond was given the all-clear by inspectors despite neighbours complaining that it was actually a swimming pool. A Suffolk Coastal District Council team visited the pop star's estate and found "no evidence that it is not a wildlife pond". Sheeran was given planning permission for the development on the basis it was used for wildlife and not for swimming or any other recreational leisure activity.
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16
Oct
2017
Ed Sheeran broke his wrist and elbow in a biking accident, forcing him to cancel dates on his tour of Asia. He called his time off "the most depressing six weeks of my life."
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7
Jul
2017
The Official Charts Company overhauled the way it compiles the UK Top 40 in an effort to stop A-list artists elbowing newer acts out of the way. The move was prompted by Ed Sheeran, whose new album ÷ [Divide] proved so popular that it propelled 16 tracks into the top 20 in March.
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1
Jul
2017
Ed Sheeran returned to No.1 for the forth time with his third studio album ÷ (pronounced ‘divide’). The album also topped the charts in 14 other countries and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
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14
Apr
2017
Harry Styles's debut single 'Sign of the Times' broke Ed Sheeran's 13-week run at the top of the UK charts. The One Direction star achieved his first No.1 as a solo artist with this release - the first from his self-titled debut album.
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30
Mar
2017
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the US and UK album chart with his third studio album ÷ (pronounced ‘divide’). The album also topped the charts in 14 other countries. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
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20
Mar
2017
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Shape of You'. The song peaked at No.1 on the singles charts of 34 countries, including the US Billboard Hot 100. In December 2018, the song became the first song to hit 2 billion streams and the most streamed song on Spotify. 'Shape of You' also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
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6
Mar
2017
Ed Sheeran's new album ÷ (Divide) became one of the fastest-selling releases ever in the UK, shifting 432,000 copies in just three days.The all-time list for first-week sales has Adele's 25 and Oasis's Be Here Now at the top with 800,000 each. ÷ smashed the Spotify record for the most-streamed album in a single day - notching up 56.7 million streams on its day of release.
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5
Mar
2017
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK album chart with his third studio album ÷ (pronounced ‘divide’). All the tracks on the album reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart in the week of the album's release, due to heavy streaming. The dominance of its tracks on the UK chart led to calls for change on how the singles chart was compiled. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
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10
Aug
2016
Ed Sheeran was being sued in America over claims that his track 'Thinking Out Loud' rips off a Marvin Gaye song. The family of the man who co-wrote 'Let's Get It On' says it copies key parts of the track. Ed Townsend's relatives were asking for a jury to decide if they're owed damages.
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8
Jun
2016
Two US musicians were suing Ed Sheeran for $20m (£13.8m) over his single 'Photograph'. Martin Harrington and American Thomas Leonard claimed it had a similar structure to their song, 'Amazing'. Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard said they penned Amazing in 2009 and in documents, that include musical note comparison and chord breakdowns of the two songs, the pair claimed the chorus of 'Photograph' shares 39 identical notes with their track.
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1
Jun
2016
Ed Sheeran was revealed as the most-played pop act in the UK in 2015. The singer topped the music royalty body Phonographic Performance Ltd's (PPL) chart, which is based on TV and radio airplay, adverts and plays in venues like pubs and clubs. Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk was the most-played song of the year, ahead of Ellie Goulding's 'Love Me Like You Do' and James Bay's'Hold Back The River'.
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20
May
2016
The BPI reported that due to the huge success of artists like Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, One Direction and Adele
British artists accounted for one in every six albums sold worldwide in 2015. Adele was the driving force, selling 17.4 million copies of her third album, 25, in just six weeks.
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12
Apr
2016
A report showed that British artists including Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and Adele had helped the music industry return to meaningful growth for the first time in almost 20 years. British artists accounted for five of the top 10 selling albums during 2015, as the global music industry generated $15bn (£10.5bn).
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15
Feb
2016
Winners at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles included Taylor Swift who won three awards, including Album of the Year for 1989, becoming the first female artist to win Album of the Year twice as main credited artist. Alabama Shakes also won three awards including Best Alternative Music Album for Sound & Color. Ed Sheeran won two including Song of the Year for 'Thinking Out Loud'. Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk won for Record of the Year.
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13
Jan
2016
Ed Sheeran's new singles 'Shape of You' and 'Castle On The Hill' entered the UK singles chart at No.1 and No.2 respectively.
The Official Charts Company said it was the first time in history an artist had taken the top two chart positions with brand new songs.
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23
Oct
2015
Jamie Lawson, the first act signed to Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man label, topped the UK album chart with his self titled new record. Lawson had released his first album 12 years ago.
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4
Jun
2015
According to the BPI's Music Market 2015 report British acts accounted for 1 in 7 albums sold worldwide. With 13.7% of worldwide sales, it's the highest British share since the BPI began recording figures in 2000. Albums by One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Sam Smith and Pink Floyd all made the top ten list of the world's biggest-sellers of 2014.
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21
May
2015
Black Sabbath received a lifetime achievement prize at the Ivor Novello songwriting awards. Guitarist Tony Iommi picked up the trophy, confirming the heavy metal band would embark on their "final tour" next year. Ed Sheeran was named songwriter of the year, and Annie Lennox was awarded the fellowship of the British Society of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (Basca) - the society's highest honour.
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19
Mar
2015
Ed Sheeran sold the two millionth copy of his second album, X, (pronounced multiply), in the UK, nine months after it was released. He became only the fifth artist to achieve the feat this decade, following in the footsteps of Adele,
Emeli Sande,
Take That and Michael Buble.
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25
Dec
2014
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK album chart with x, (pronounced "multiply"). In 2015, x won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year, and at the 57th Grammy Awards it was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year. Spotify named x the most-streamed album in the world for 2014, racking up more than 430 million streams for the year.
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21
Dec
2014
Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish formally converted their civil partnership to a marriage hosting a ceremony at their Windsor estate in Berkshire. David and Victoria Beckham, Ed Sheeran, Lulu and actor David Walliams were among the guests.
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3
Dec
2014
Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was named the most-streamed artist in the world by Spotify. The 23-year-old had racked up more than 860 million streams on the service, beating Eminem and Coldplay who came second and third respectively. Katy Perry was the year's most streamed female artist, with Ariana Grande second and Lana Del Rey third.
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18
Aug
2014
Ed Sheeran's album X notched up eight weeks at No.1 on the UK chart, becoming the joint longest chart-topper by a male solo artist. The last man to achieve the feat was James Blunt for his 2005 collection Back to Bedlam.
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7
Aug
2014
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK album chart with his second studio album X. The album has been certified 10x platinum in the UK with sales of over 3 million copies, making it the third best-selling album of the 2010s and one of the best selling albums in the history of the UK.
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21
Jul
2014
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK album chart with X (pronounced multiply), his second studio album. The album peaked at No. 1 in fifteen countries, and the lead single, 'Sing', became Sheeran's first UK No.1 song. By the end of 2014 Spotify named X the most-streamed album in the world for 2014, racking up more than 430 million streams for the year.
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19
Jul
2014
Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK album chart with X (pronounced multiply), his second studio album. The album peaked at No. 1 in fifteen countries, and the lead single, 'Sing', became Sheeran's first UK No.1 song. By the end of 2014 Spotify named X the most-streamed album in the world for 2014, racking up more than 430 million streams for the year.
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30
Jun
2014
Ed Sheeran's second album X became the fastest-selling UK album of the year so far after selling 182,000 copies in its first week, 14,000 more than Coldplay managed with Ghost Stories which was released in May.
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30
Jun
2009
U2 kicked off their 360 tour with a show in Barcelona, Spain. 109 shows later, the tour finished with $735 million in earnings, blowing away the $558 million record set by The Rolling Stones on their 2005-2007 A Bigger Bang tour. Ed Sheeran broke the record in 2019 when his ÷ (Divide) tour brought in $775 million.
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Bryan Ray
October 27, 2020 at 3:49 pm
I love this song, legit love it, it’s not like normal pop songs with the same track, with the same chords but instead, has this Irish tint to it and the instrumentals are awesome.
Patrick Jeffries
January 12, 2021 at 12:52 pm
Ed’s first Number 1 single came in 2014 with Sing, co-written and produced by Pharrell Williams, kicking off an incredible run of chart-topping success across the decade and rise to global superstardom.
Peter HitNaija
August 2, 2021 at 3:07 pm
I love this song, legit love it, it’s not like normal pop songs with the same track, with the same chords but instead, has this Irish tint to it and the instrumentals are awesome.