Photo: Press
Things are perfect for Ed Sheeran, the 'Shape Of You', 'Galway Girl', and 'Castle On The Hill' singer has taken the number one slot by a landslide, and made the third fastest selling album of all time in the process.
The singer, who has a net worth of an estimated to by $84 million, has sold 672,000 copies of Divide - by contrast, Stormzy's number one last week sold an impressive, but comparatively low 68,594 copies. Only Oasis' Be Here Now and Adele's 25 have sold quicker since Official Chart Company Records began.
If that wasn't enough to make your jaw drop slightly, the calculator symbol lover has NINE top ten singles in the chart and he holds the top five. He is the first artist ever to have every song off his album enter the top 20.
In terms of streaming, the singer's racked up a healthy 374,721,898 this week on Spotify alone. Sheeran beats previous record holder for first week streams, The Weeknd who had 267m.
Then there's that old format that's coming back: vinyl. Sainsbury's must have been busy packing in those big blue record sleeves this week as 13,546 sales is the highest first week sales in 20 years .
All the above don't account for sales in other countries, too and Sheeran is massive in the States. As Julian Marszalek wrote in Gigwise today: "It's Sheeran's world and we live in it."
How do you think the Suffolk born and raised singer is feeling about all of this? Well, as you guessed, he said in a press release he's "buzzing." Champers out tonight perhaps.
Fans response to when it came out left them blubbering wrecks with one person tweeting: “Sitting on my floor. By myself. With a daiquiri. Listening to Ed. Sobbing. I've never been happier.”
Elsewhere, Sheeran is strongly rumoured to be playing Glastonbury as he was caught in a recent interview awkwardly avoiding the question. Meanwhile, In an interview with the Guardian, Sheeran claimed that the record would probably outstrip his 14 million selling second album ‘x’, and also revealed that he once hit Justin Bieber in the face with a golf club.
The Sheeran mania will continue well into spring. He does an extensive UK tour that includes two nights at The 02. Check here for tickets
April
12 - 3 Arena, Dublin, Ireland
13 - 3 Arena, Dublin, Ireland
16 - The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
17 - The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
19 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
20 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
22 - Manchester Arena
23 - Manchester Arena
25 - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
26 - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
28 - Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
29 - Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
May
1 - The O2, London, UK
2 - The O2, London, UK
