LONDON: Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has been named the “UK’s Official Number 1 Artist of the Decade” after a record-breaking run of hits.
His global smash “Shape of You” – which spent 14 weeks at No. 1 in Britain in 2017 – was named top song of the past 10 years.
He scooped the “Official Chart Record Breaker” award for the most number 1 singles and albums from 2010-2019. In all, his releases spent 79 weeks in the top spot over that period,
Previous recipients of that award include Paul McCartney and Justin Bieber.
The latest accolade comes a week after Spotify named him the UK’s most-streamed artist of the 2010s. Globally, only Drake achieved more plays.
Sheeran first entered the UK charts in 2011 with debut single “The A Team”. He has since had eight UK no. 1 singles. His four studio albums each topped the British charts.
“Shape of You” topped the Official Charts Company’s list of the top 100 biggest songs of the decade, followed by “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson, featuring Bruno Mars. Two other Sheeran songs, “Thinking Out Loud” and “Perfect”, also made the top 10 of that list.
Adele’s “21” and “25” took the first two spots in the top 100 biggest albums of the decade. The British songstress picked up six Grammys for “21” and five of the awards for “25”, with both records topping charts around the world. Three of Sheeran’s albums made the top 10.
Sheeran said: “This is nuts – I didn’t really expect to have a career past five years, so to be able to have done it for a decade, … Thank you for your support.”
Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, which compiles Britain’s weekly charts said Sheeran had “truly dominated” the decade.
“At the start of the decade, he was a little known, albeit highly-rated, young 18-year-old lad from Suffolk – but his catalogue of achievements since then are genuinely remarkable. Today, he is firmly established among the highest level of global music superstars,” Talbot added.
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