Ed Sheeran’s ➗ smashes Official Chart records - The fastest-selling album by a male artist ever

All 16 songs enter the Official Singles Chart Top 20

Official Chart: Ed Sheeran’s ➗ is the fastest-selling album by a male artist ever

There was little doubt Ed Sheeran would storm to Number 1 this week, but today (March 10) the Official Charts Company can confirm that the singer-songwriter’s new collection "÷" is the fastest-selling album by a male artist ever – and the records don’t stop there.

The highly anticipated third album (pronounced ‘Divide’) shifted a staggering 672,000 this week, giving Ed the highest opening week album sales in Official Chart history for a male artist and the third fastest-seller ever. Only Adele’s 25 (800,000) and Oasis’ Be Here Now (696,000) shifted more copies across their first seven days of release.

It’s been a phenomenal week for Ed and one that is rarely seen on the Official Chart. In its opening week, ÷ has sold more than the rest of the Official Albums Chart Top 500 combined this week, and, like for like, four times more than the fastest-selling album of 2016, David Bowie’s Blackstar (146,000 in week 1). Its total sales figure means it already awarded a 2 x Platinum certification by the BPI.

Ed tells OfficialCharts.com

“Wow! What a phenomenal week. To every person who’s bought the album - thank you. I’m buzzing!”

A British artist and record with incredibly broad appeal to fans of all generations and genres - the album has performed strongly across all formats this week. Driven predominantly by physical sales (62%), 26% from downloads and 12% streaming equivalent sales – the highest first-week streaming sales for an album ever (79,000 album streams, already overtaking Stormzy’s Gang Signs & Prayer that set a new record last week).

Ed has also scored the biggest one-week vinyl album sale in more than 20 years –  amassing more sales on wax this week than any vinyl record of the last two decades has managed by traditional vinyl stars such as Bowie, Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and Noel Gallagher.

Ed has claimed the chart double as Shape Of You leads the way on the Official Singles Chart, notching up 141,000 combined chart sales. All 16 songs on ÷ feature inside the Top 20, something that no artist has come close to achieving before and is a reflection of the sheer scale of this release and its broad appeal.

Behind Shape Of You, Ed holds the entire Top 5 - the first time an act has ever achieved this - with Galway Girl (2), Castle On The Hill (3), Perfect (4) and New Man (5). And with nine songs in the Top 10 today, Ed sets a new record for landing the most Top 10 singles from one album, having scored 10 from ÷ so far (How Would You Feel (Paean) is Number 11 this week but has also charted inside the Top 10 previously). The previous record holder was Calvin Harris, who landed nine Top 10 singles from his 18 Months album. 

Ed also dominates on the Official Irish Singles and Irish Albums Charts, with tracks relating to Ed’s Irish heritage performing especially well. Galway Girl is the country’s Official Number 1 single this week, outmuscling Shape of You (2) by over 3,000. ÷ deluxe track Nancy Mulligan – the story of Ed Sheeran’s Irish grandparents – is at Number 3. ÷ itself is Number 1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart, outselling the rest of the Top 40 combined.

Ben Cook, President, Atlantic Records UK comments: 

“Ed is truly one of a kind and ÷ is an incredible musical statement that only he could make; it’s passionate and contemporary, whilst being distinct and timeless.  In the six years since we signed him nothing with Ed has been accidental – he’s constantly raised the bar, challenging us to match his drive and musical output at every step: ÷ is no different.  It’s his best record to date and together we’ve innovated to create this historic, cultural moment. Ed has proven himself to be a rare modern day artist whose career continues to grow stratospherically and his music will resonate across generations for years to come.  What a lad!”

Martin Talbot, Chief Executive, Official Charts Company adds: 

“Divide is a huge album, a genuine phenomenon. The impact it has made this week, both in the Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart (16 Top 20 singles and 3 Top 5 albums) is truly remarkable, and places Ed Sheeran in a firmament only occupied by Adele and Oasis in the past 30 years. Congratulations to Ed on an incredible success.

New entries and high climbers

Aside from Ed Sheeran’s new entries, two more songs are on course to enter this week’s singles Top 40: Lorde’s new single Green Light debuts Number 28, and a new version of Little Mix’s No More Sad Songs featuring Machine Gun Kelly is at 39. 

Over on the Official Albums Chart, eight more new albums land inside this week’s Top 40: Windy City by US bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss (6), Collabro’s third album Home (7) and Sleaford Mods’ 10th record English Tapas (12).

 Further down, Daniel O’Donnell’s Back Home Again debuts at 14, Last Place by US indie band Grandaddy opens at 18, Volcano by British band Temples is at 23 We Are X by Japanese rockers X Japan enters at 27, and The Gold Collection by Irish musical duo Foster & Allen is at 34.

Notes to Editors
Chart information quoted from this release must be credited to the Official Charts Company, online outlets please link to www.officialcharts.com

About Official Charts Company
The Official Charts Company are the providers of the UK's only official music and video charts, as seen at OfficialCharts.com, on BBC Radio 1, MTV, Music Week, The Sun, Daily Star, NME and many more.  Compiling its charts purely from sales and streaming information gathered across all key distribution (or entertainment) channels including all major high street retail chains, independent stores, supermarkets, mail order internet retailers and digital music and streaming service providers. This market research sample equates to 99% of the total UK singles market; 98% of the total UK albums market and 90% of the total UK DVD market.

The Official Charts Company is a joint venture between record labels' body the BPI and ERA, the Entertainment Retailers Association. The Official Charts Company are responsible for the commissioning, marketing, distribution and management of the UK's industry standard music charts and industry sales data.

About OfficialCharts.com 
OfficialCharts.com is the new destination site of the UK’s Official Charts, delivering exclusive breaking chart news, video interviews with the week’s Official Number 1 artist, hot new releases and competitions to 2.5 million of the UK’s biggest chart fans monthly. You can access the full Official Singles and Official Albums Chart Top 100, published Fridays at 5.45pm, plus official genre and format charts for Rock, RnB, Dance, Streaming, Vinyl and many more.  You can also search our historical chart archive from the Access The Archive box on the home page, here you can search the Official Charts Company archive by date, artist, song or album title or keyword.

View the Official Charts
The Official Charts Company publishes the full Official Singles Chart and Official Albums Charts Top 100 online at http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/  and http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/ .  You can also search our historical chart archive from the Access The Archive box on the home page, here you can search the Official Charts Company archive by date, artist, song or album title or keyword.

Hear the Official Charts
The Official Chart with Greg James, Fridays 4 - 5.45pm, BBC Radio 1; BBC Radio 1 can be found on 97-99FM; on DAB Radio; online at bbc.co.uk/radio1; and on Freeview, Sky, Virgin and Freesat.

The Official Chart Update with Greg James, Mondays 5.30 - 5.45pm, gives music fans a weekly sneak preview of the Official Singles and Albums Charts, providing a "half-time" bulletin on his BBC Radio 1 Show, letting music fans in on who is leading the way in the Official Singles & Albums Charts ahead of the Friday Official Chart announcement. The Update reveals how the runners and riders are selling and streaming in the first three days of the chart week (Friday through to Sunday), outlining the hottest new tracks of the week so far, as well as the new entries and highest climbers.

March 10, 2017 1:01pm ET by Official Charts Company  

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