Born in West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, Ed Sheeran had a promising musical talent playing guitar and writing music from a young age. He was inspired by singer-songwriter Damien Rice to pursue a career as a musical artist when he attended his concert at the age of 11. Sheeran was only 14 when he started selling his recordings and released his music in 2006 and 2007. He played music in local London circuits during the time. In 2010, he was asked to perform an opening act for rapper Example during his tour. Sheeran met Jamie Foxx the same year he moved to the United States and signed on to Atlantic Records. He began writing for One Direction and Taylor Swift before releasing his first studio album in 2011.
Ed Sheeran has been on a roll since his first album and has accomplished the feat of selling over a million copies worldwide. His singing and songwriting talent has gained popularity everywhere, making him one of the most sought-after singers in the world. Here’s a look at 4 Ed Sheeran albums that sold over a million copies.
Plus
Released in September 2011, Plus was the breakthrough album for Ed Sheeran that earned him recognition worldwide. The album was on the top spot on the UK Charts, with 102,350 copies sold within the first week. It became the fastest-selling debut album since Susan Boyle in 2009. Surprisingly, the album spent 426 weeks on the UK’s top 100 charts, which is more than eight years.
As mentioned by Official Charts, his single The A-Team has had 157 million streams and 1.1 million downloads. The overall sales of the album stand at 2.6 million, which makes it an 8x platinum album with 1.49 million physical sales, 423,000 streams, and 700,000 downloads. Four of his singles went to the Top 10 spot. Sheeran performed an intimate show in August 2021, ten years after the album was released.
Multiply
The second studio album by Ed Sheeran, titled ‘X’ or Multiply, was his first album to hit the Number 1 spot on the US Billboard, with hit singles Photograph, Thinking Out Loud, Sing, and Don’t. The album was released in June 2014 via Atlantic Records. Multiply sold 215,000 during its opening week, which was a career-best for Sheeran as well as the largest pop album debut of 2014. Additionally, it was the fourth-biggest overall opening for the same year.
His sales hit the Number 1 spot in the USA with the largest sales of any British male artist since 1994, as reported by Billboard. In March 2015, his album sold 2 million in just fifteen weeks in the UK, making him the fifth artist after Adele, Michael Buble, Take That, and Emelie Sandie to achieve this feat. The boost in sales occurred after Sheeran released the video for his highly successful love ballad Thinking Out Loud, which everyone loved. His album hit the 10 million mark worldwide in 2014.
Divide
Ed Sheeran gave the world another chart-topping album with his third studio album titled Divide. It continued the theme of his mathematical titles and became one of the biggest selling albums of 2017. The first two singles, Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill, were released in January 2017, followed by the album in March 2017. According to World Music Awards, Divide had sold 9.6 million copies by December of that year. It included other hit songs like Supermarket Flowers, Happier, Dive, Galway Girl, and Perfect.
Debuted at No. 1 on Billboard, the album received Gold Certification by RIAA in March itself. Within the first six months, the album had over a billion streams on online music platforms worldwide. The album hit the No.1 spot in over 23 countries and maintained the position for 21 consecutive weeks in Australia. The album was certified three times platinum after it sold over 300,000 copies.
No. 6 Collaborations Project
Ed Sheeran’s second collaboration project titled No. 6 Collaborations Project came as a surprise to fans when he announced the album in 2019. After his Divide album tour, Sheeran had plans to go on a break but decided to release the album lined with the best star-studded collaborations in the music industry. The album has songs featuring Khalid, Camila Cabello, Chance The Rapper, Bruno Mars, Ella Mai, Cardi B, and Eminem.
No. 6 Collaborations Project featured a stronger R&B tone with relatable lyrics that discuss social anxiety, as noted by The Guardian. The album released in July 2019 earned three No. 1 singles on the Billboard 200 list. Sheeran had the biggest opening for a male artist with 173,00 units sold, beating Shawn Mendes and his 2018 self-titled album. The album sold 1.1 million copies worldwide.
After taking a hiatus since 2019, Ed Sheeran returned to 2021 with the announcement of his newest album Equals (=), which is set to release on October 29, 2021. His hit singles Bad Habits and Shivers have already topped the charts and become instantly famous. Sheeran is on a streak to make his fifth album sell a million copies as well.
Sources: Offical Charts, Billboard, World Music Awards, The Guardian