Pop singer Ed Sheeran on Friday broke all-time records on Spotify as fans rushed to hear two songs from his upcoming album.
The British singer-songwriter’s “Shape of You” became the top song ever for a single week on the world’s largest streaming website, with 52,359,013 listens through Thursday.
“Shape of You” shattered the previous record for a single week set by Canadian rapper Drake’s “One Dance” in May.
Sheeran’s track also broke the record for streams in the first week set in 2015 by Adele with her ballad “Hello.”
Both “Shape of You” and Sheeran’s other new track, “Castle on the Hill,” topped previous feats for first-day streams when he released them on January 6.
“Shape of You,” a minimalist dance tune about picking up a woman at a bar, and the rockier “Castle on the Hill” will both feature on Sheeran’s upcoming third album, “Divide.”
The album, which like Sheeran’s previous two albums is named after a mathematical symbol, will come out on March 3.
The 25-year-old singer and guitarist saw his career rise rapidly after initial struggles. He moved to Los Angeles in 2010 with a little set plan, initially playing at open-microphone nights in bars and cafes.
Within a few years, Sheeran had landed a record deal and was taken under the wing of pop superstar Taylor Swift before he found global stardom with his ballad “Thinking Out Loud.”
He won Song of the Year at the Grammys in 2016 with “Thinking Out Loud,” which broke an earlier Spotify record and remains the service’s fifth most-streamed song ever.
