Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ reaches three billion Spotify streams
It's the first song ever to hit the milestone
By Joe Goggins
Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ has reached three billion streams on Spotify – becoming the first song on the service to reach the milestone.
One of two lead singles from his multi-platinum third studio album, ‘÷’, the dancehall-inflected 2017 smash surpassed the three billion mark yesterday (Deecember 22), just shy of five years since it was first released on the platform.
In a video shared by Spotify on Twitter to mark the occasion, Sheeran described the achievement as “absolutely insane”, adding that he “couldn’t be more chuffed.” He reflected on the fact that the track almost didn’t make the cut when he was putting the record together, saying: “It wasn’t really meant to make the album, but when I finished making the song, Ben Cook, from my record label, said it had to be a single – but I wanted ‘Castle on the Hill’ to be the single, I said that was going to be bigger. We agreed to disagree and put both songs out at once and I have to say, Ben, I was wrong, and you were very much right. Here we are with ‘Shape of You’ at three billion views [sic].”
‘Castle on the Hill’ is itself one of a number of Sheeran tracks to join Spotify’s ‘Billions Club’ playlist, along with ‘Galway Girl’, ‘Happier’, ‘I Don’t Care’ and ‘Beautiful People’, which have all been streamed more than a billion times. ‘Shape of You’, though, is now way out in front. The track went to number one in 34 countries upon release.
In other Sheeran news, he appears set for festive glory tomorrow (December 24) when this year’s Christmas number one is announced; his collaboration with Elton John and LadBaby, ‘Sausage Rolls for Everyone’, is the runaway favourite for the top spot.
The track is a comedic spin on Sheeran and John’s duet ‘Merry Christmas’, which itself went to number one earlier this month. It would mark the fourth consecutive festive chart-topper for LadBaby, setting a new record; the last time somebody other than the graphic designer-turned-novelty artist secured the Christmas number one was Sheeran himself, with ‘Perfect’ in 2017.