ED SHEERAN MAKES CHART HISTORY ON BILLBOARD’S HOT 100
Ed Sheeran “Divide” Atlantic Records Global superstar ED SHEERAN has made history with his singles “Shape Of You” and “Castle On The Hill,” debuting at #1 and #6 respectively on Billboard’s Hot 100, becoming the first artist ever to debut two singles in the top 10 simultaneously in the chart’s 58-year history. The two tracks – released in tandem at the top of the new year – are the first singles from the multi-GRAMMY award winning singer-songwriter’s hugely anticipated third studio album “÷” (pronounced divide), which is available for pre-orderhere and arrives on March 3 via Atlantic Records.
Ed Sheeran
“Shape Of You”
From ÷
Atlantic Records
Ed Sheeran
“Castle On The Hill”
From ÷
Atlantic Records
Ed Sheeran
“Thinking Out Loud”
From X
Atlantic Records
“Shape Of You” and “Castle On The Hill” have also made chart history in Sheeran’s native UK, debuting at #1 and #2, respectively, making him the first artist to land the top spots with two brand new tracks. Remarkably, the two songs have outsold the rest of the UK singles chart Top 20 combined. Similarly, in Australia, Sheeran has become the first artist to have simultaneous debuts at #1 and #2; the songs also hold the #1 and #2 positions in New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, France and Ireland. Both singles have already been certified Gold in the UK, Australia, and Ireland.
“Shape Of You” continues to break global streaming records on Spotify, including biggest ‘one-day’ streams for a track with 7,940,950 streams and biggest-ever ‘first week’ global streams for a track (both overtaking Adele’s “Hello”), as well as the biggest-ever ‘one week’ streams for a track, globally (surpassing Drake’s “One Dance”) – with a total of 52 million global Spotify streams this week. With “Shape Of You” tallying 6,868,642 streams and “Castle On The Hill” landing 6,168,395 streams, both of the new tracks had individually overtaken the previous ‘day 1’ record holders (One Direction logged 4,759,698 streams with “Drag Me Down” in August 2015).
Both songs have become fixtures in the top 10 on the iTunes “Overall Songs” chart, with “Shape Of You” skyrocketing to the #1 spot upon its release, where it still currently stands. Over the last week, “Shape Of You” has hit #1 on iTunes in 92 markets while “Castle On The Hill” has reached #1 in 43 markets. On Spotify, “Shape Of You” hit #1 in 38 markets while holding the global #1 for the duration. “Castle On The Hill” held the #2 position in 28 markets worldwide and top 10 in 38 markets.
Meanwhile, the accompanying lyric videos have received nearly 100 million combined hits, including over 10 million views in the first 24 hours alone, marking his fastest-ever video launches, with the accompanying official videos still to come.
One of the most anticipated global releases of 2017, “÷” sees the 25-year-old in his finest form yet. Drawing inspiration from a wide array of experiences and subjects, Sheeran takes you through a hugely personal journey; be that reflecting on past relationships, family memories, his musical career or his time off travelling the world in 2016. Musically, “÷” is a varied collectionof beautifully orchestrated and emotive ballads, impassioned raps laid over hip hop beats, timeless acoustic guitar masterpieces, and innovative, idiosyncratic pop music. Constantly on the move, the album was recorded between LA, London, Suffolk and while crossing the Atlantic aboard the RMS Queen Mary 2. Executive produced by multi-GRAMMY winner Benny Blanco and Sheeran himself with additional production coming from frequent collaborator Johnny McDaid, GRAMMY winner Mike Elizondo, and BRIT-award winner Steve Mac. Sheeran also created the album artwork concept for “÷,” even painting the cover himself.
