Ed Sheeran storms US Billboard 200 charts
ED Sheeran stormed the US charts on Monday, taking the top spot on the Billboard 200 with his new album “Divide” and also topping the digital songs chart with lead single “Shape of You.”
The British singer- songwriter sold an overwhelming 451,000 units of “Divide” in its debut week, giving him the biggest US sales week for any album so far this year.
His US success follows an even bigger start for “Divide” in his native Britain, where Sheeran, 26, had the fastest selling album by a solo male artist in British chart history on Friday.
The singer also made news this week when the makers of HBO TV series “Game of Thrones” announced he would be making a guest star appearance in the upcoming seventh season of the fantasy adventure, which arrives in July.
The Billboard 200 album chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).
Sales of rock band Metallica’s album “Hardwired... To SelfDestruct” jumped more than 200 per cent to take the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 with 81,000 units sold for the week. The jump followed a promotional deal linked to the band’s upcoming US tour.
Last week’s top spot, Atlanta rapper Future’s “HNDRXX” album, slipped to No. 5.
On the digital songs chart, which measures online singles sales, Sheeran’s “Shape of You” sold another 115,000 units for the week, nine weeks after its release. Sheeran also saw his new single “Perfect” take the No. 8 spot.
Meanwhile, Sheeran has announced a new date at London’s The O2 to mark the venue’s 10th birthday.
The ‘Castle on the Hill’ hitmaker will play at the legendary arena on June 22 and joins previously announced performers alt- J, Celine Dion and Jamiroquai, who have already been announced as part of a series of gigs.
The 26-year- old f lame- haired hunk said: “I am really excited to be joining the celebrations for The O2’s 10th Birthday. The O2 is such an iconic venue and has played host to some of my biggest inspirations. It’s always a privilege to play there and taking part in the 10th Birthday celebrations makes it even more special.”
It follows the ‘ Shape of You’ singer’s recent record- breaking chart success, which saw him set a new record after obtaining nine of the top 10 singles in the UK chart.
Sheeran was convinced something had “gone wrong” when he learned he was the first artist to ever hold all top five positions in the chart, with all 16 of the tracks from his new album ‘Divide’ making it into the top 20.
At the time, he said “I never expected to have nine songs in the top 10 ever in my life.
“I don’t know if something has gone wrong, but I’m definitely very happy about it.”
Only ‘ Something Like This’, by Chainsmokers and Coldplay, managed to break Sheeran’s top 10 domination and was placed 7th, with Rag’n’Bone Man, Katy Perry and Stormzy also retaining places in the top 20.
Sheeran’s triumph beat a record previously set by Calvin Harris, who sent a message of congratulations to the flamehaired star.
He tweeted: “Ed Sheeran just beat my UK record top 10s from 1 album in ONE WEEK congrats Ed but also (expletive) you I love you but also (expletive) you (sic)”
And Sheeran set another record after ‘Divide’ become the fastestselling album by a male artist ever, after shifting 672,000 copies.
Only Adele’s ‘ 25’ and ‘ Be Here Now’ by Oasis - with 800,000 and 696,000 respectively - have sold more during their first week of release.
Of the feat, he added: “Wow! What a phenomenal week. To every person who’s bought the album - thank you. I’m buzzing!”
Sheeran’s first two albums were also in fourth and fifth place on the album chart, with Rag’n’Bone Man second with ‘ Human’ and Stormzy’s ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’ in third.
And Spotify confirmed Sheeran had broken a string of streaming records, including the biggest first week streams of an album worldwide, after ‘ Divide’ was streamed a staggering 374,721,898 times globally and 73,906,189 times in the UK.