Ed Sheeran is the UK’s official number-one artist of the decade
Mark SurridgeCongratulations to Ed Sheeran: He’s just been named the U.K.’s number-one artist of the past 10 years.
Ever since his 2011 debut hit, “The A Team,” Ed’s pretty much dominated the decade, especially in his home country, which is why Britain’s Official Charts Company has given him its Official Chart Record Breaker Award. In the past decade, he’s scored the most number-ones across the singles and albums charts, a total of 12, and spent the most weeks at number one across both those charts: 79 weeks in all.
Ed’s only the third artist to receive the Official Record Breaker award, but the previous winners are both friends of his. Justin Bieber won it in 2016 when he became the first act ever to occupy the top three positions on the U.K. singles chart simultaneously, and Paul McCartney also got one in 2016 for being the biggest albums act of all time on the British charts, with 22 number-one releases.
In a statement, Ed says, “Thank you to everyone who’s supported me over the past 10 years, especially my amazing fans.”
Some of Ed’s other milestones: He’s scored the most top-five, top-10 and top-20 hits this decade, and spent the most time in the top 40. He’s also spent more than 1,000 weeks in the top 75, which is something only four other artists have done: Elvis Presley, Rihanna, and U.K. music icon Cliff Richard.
In a video, Ed — sporting a new, shorter haircut — says, “I didn’t really expect to have a career past five years, so to be able to have done it for a decade and to be the number-one artist of the decade is pretty nuts. …[T]hank you so much, and here’s to the next 10 years! Nice one!”
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