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Sheeran is due to release his third album, ÷, on 6 March
Ed Sheeran’s new singles Shape of You and Castle On The Hill have entered the UK singles chart at number one and number two respectively.
The Official Charts Company says it is the first time in history an artist has taken the top two chart positions with brand new songs.
The singer said he was “incredibly chuffed” by the success.
“Both tracks mean a huge amount to me so it really is amazing to see them go to the top of the chart together.”
| Top five singles | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Title |
| 1) Ed Sheeran | Shape Of You |
| 2) Ed Sheeran | Castle On The Hill |
| 3) Rag N Bone Man | Human |
| 4) Clean Bandit ft Anne Marie and Sean Paul | Rockabye |
| 5) Little Mix | Touch |
Source: Official Charts Company
Sheeran’s comeback follows a “gap year” where he removed himself from social media, making space to write his third album, ÷ (Divide).
Fans were clearly hungry for new material, as the star set several streaming records over the course of the week.
Shape Of You‘s bouncy, uptempo pop was the bigger hit, notching up 13.4 million streams – smashing the record Drake set last summer, when One Dance was streamed 8.9 million in a single week.
Castle On The Hill, built around a chiming, U2-style guitar riff, also beat Drake’s tally, with 11.07 million streams.
On Spotify, Sheeran also broke a global streaming record held by One Direction, whose single Drag Me Down racked up 4.76m streams in one day in August 2015.
Shape Of You was streamed 6.13 million times when it was released last Friday, increasing to 7.24 million streams on Monday.
| Top five albums | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Title |
| 1) Little Mix (pictured) | Glory Days |
| 2) Pete Tong | Classic House |
| 3) You Me At Six | Night People |
| 4) George Michael | Ladies and Gentlemen |
| 5) David Bowie | Legacy |
Source: Official Charts Company
The remarkable performance of his singles ends Clean Bandit’s nine-week run at number one.
Their single, Rockabye, drops to number four, while Rag ‘N’ Bone Man’s Human is at three.
There are also new entries for Sean Paul and Dua Lipa’s No Lie at 28 and Snakehips’ Don’t Leave, featuring Danish singer MØ, at 33.
In the album chart, Little Mix held on to the top spot for a fifth week with their album Glory Days.
It is now the most successful album by a girl band since the Spice Girls’ Spice spent 15 weeks at number one in 1996.
Meanwhile, David Bowie’s Blackstar made a reappearance in the top 40, exactly a year after his death, while his Legacy compilation jumped from 18 to number five.
BBC