Ed Sheeran Sets Another U.K. Chart Record

Ed Sheeran breaks records like the rest of us kick back on a weekend — with monotonous regularity.
His 2017 hit “Shape Of You” is the most-streamed song ever on Spotify, he’s the only artist to sell one million tickets on a single tour of Australia, he’s behind the longest climb to No. 1 in the U.K. (19 weeks with 2014’s “Thinking Out Loud”).

Sheeran establishes another new mark, this time in his homeland where he becomes the first artist to have four albums chart inside the Official Albums Chart Top 10 for a year.

Those albums, Sheeran’s studio collections + (Plus), x (Multiply), ÷ (Divide) and = (Equals), have now all charted for 52 weeks or more inside the top 10 of the Official U.K. Albums Chart.

He’s the first artist to ever achieve this feat, the Official Charts Company reports.

Since the weekly tally was published for the first time on July 22, 1956, only one other act has had more than one album go the distance — Simon and Garfunkel, with two LPs.

Sheeran has an impressive five-from-five leaders on the national albums survey – 2019’s No. 6 Collaborations Project also hit the target. He also has a grand total of 13 No. 1 singles, level with Madonna and behind only Cliff Richard and Westlife (14), the Beatles (17) and the all-time chart king, Elvis Presley (21).

The Englishman last week teased the 2023 release of a new album, which Sheerios are speculating could be called Subtract, in keeping with the mathematical theme of those previous hit album titles.

Sheeran is facing a busy year. Aside from the prospect of new music, he’ll hit the road for a major international stadium jaunt, dubbed the “+ – = ÷ x Tour,” due to kick off Feb. 2 at Sky Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, followed by dates across Australia and North America.