Ed Sheeran creates chart history in Australia & the UK

After a three-year recording hiatus, pop artist Ed Sheeran’s two new singles Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill created chart history in Australia and the UK.

In both countries, the singles debuted at #1 and #2. The 25-year old Sheeran has become the first artist to have simultaneous debuts in the top two spots, according to the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and UK’s The Official Charts Company.

Furthermore, Sheeran achieved another distinguished feat In the UK with both singles outselling the entire Top 20.

Shape Of You became Sheeran¹s third #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, following on from Sing (May 2014) and Thinking Out Loud (October 2014).

As a result of this success, the x album has returned to the Top 10 in Australia (#45 to #9), having been in the chart for 86 weeks. It was the first album in Australia to be certified diamond for sales of 500,000. His debut album, +, which went triple platinum in its first two years, re-entered the Top 50 this week (at #32) for a 163rd week.

The two tracks also currently the most streamed singles in Australia, breaking streaming records with both songs being played 748,000 times in the first 48 hours of release. They are also #1 and #2 on the iTunes charts in Australia, the UK and the US.

“I’m incredibly chuffed,” Sheeran said of the achievement. “Both tracks mean a huge amount to me so it really is amazing to see them go to the top of the chart together on the first week. I can’t wait for everyone to hear the rest of the album in March.”

In the UK, both singles racked up an impressive 421,000 units, the biggest opening week for any artist since Adele shot to #1 in November 2015 with 332,000 units for Hello.

Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill also smashed Spotify’s record for daily and weekly streams. In the first 24 hours, Shape Of You drew 6,868,642 streams while Castle On The Hill clocked in 6,168,395 streams. The previous record was set by One Direction‘s Drag Me Down which tallied 4,759,698 plays on July 31, 2015.

By the end of the week, Shape Of You (originally intended for Rihanna) had drummed up 13.4 million streams and Castle On The Hill (about Sheeran’s upbringing in an English village) had 11 million. This broke Drake’s one-week streaming record – 8.9 million for mega hit One Dance.

Shape Of You also overtook Hello for the highest number of UK streams in its first week, with 9,541,156 to Adele’s 5,411,353. They are also the first tracks to receive in excess of 10 million streams in a week.

In terms of UK airplay, Castle On The Hill is the more popular out of the two, topping the airplay charts with 4323 spins on 234 stations to an audience of 85.53 million. Shape Of You debuted at #5, with 3,942 plays on 206 stations to 69.51 million listeners.

Globally, Shape Of You is currently #1 in 39 Spotify markets and set a new world record of 52.3 million streams. Both songs occupy the #1 and #2 spots in 27 markets, with a combined 88 million Spotify streams.

Altogether, the singles have amassed 137 million streams across Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. The songs received the most recorded streams in a day on Apple Music. On YouTube, the official lyric videos have together reached 65,548,001 views combined.

Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill precede the release of his third album, ÷ (or Divide), in early March. While the record company was wondering which track should be released first, it was Sheeran who suggested that two stylistically different tracks be issued together to showcase the album’s diversity.

In the UK, Sheeran is one of the biggest selling artists of the 21st century, selling 17.5 million singles and 5.2 million albums (including streams). 2014’s x moved 2,901,863 copies and the 2011 debut, +, sold 2,128,387.

In the US, Shape Of You is expected to debut at #1 with a possible 225,000 downloads and 20 million streams in its first week, and Castle On The Hill to mark its arrival in the Top 10. If this comes to fruition, Sheeran will be the first act to also debut two songs in the top 10 simultaneously in the Billboard Hot 100’s 58-year history.

Shape Of You would become Sheeran’s first #1 in the US as an artist. He already achieved that distinction as a songwriter, co-penning Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself which held the top spot for two weeks in February 2016.