Ed Sheeran's Official Top 20 biggest songs on the Official UK Chart

Ed's Top 20 most popular songs have been streamed a combined 3.9 billion times in the UK.
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There's no disputing that Ed Sheeran is one of the biggest recording artists on the planet, and he has the download and streaming numbers to back up such a claim.

To celebrate the release of Bad Habits - most likely the lead single from his fifth studio album - we're doing a deep dive into the Suffolk singer's discography, revealing his Official Top 20 biggest songs in the UK.

With 44 UK Top 40 singles under his belt, there are plenty of songs competing for a slot in his all-time Top 20, which comprises of his most popular hits with download and streaming sales combined. In total, the Top 20 have amassed a combined 3.9 billion streams and 8.3 million paid-for sales, making Ed's discography one of the most consumed in UK chart history.

So which songs make the cut? First, a closer look at the Top 3.

3. Thinking Out Loud

Ed Sheeran's artistic versatility has seen him appeal to younger and older music fans alike who listen to music in different ways, with his streams and downloads in equally huge numbers. Thinking Out Loud is the perfect example of this broad appeal, with the wedding playlist favourite racking up 283 million streams alongside 1.26 million downloads to make overall chart sales of 3.7 million. It means Thinking Out Loud is Ed's best-selling single, and was the first of his two million-selling songs.

Thinking Out Loud spent 19 weeks in the Top 40 before reaching Number 1, a record among non-Christmas songs for the longest climb to the top spot.

2. Perfect

The Ed Sheeran track with the most video streams is winter warmer Perfect, which has tallied a cool 60.7 million plays across its original visual and the Perfect Symphony version with Andrea Bocelli.

In total, Ed's 2017 Christmas Number 1 single has accumulated paid-for sales of 568,000 and a lofty 409 million streams to rank in his all-time runner-up slot with a combined 3.9 million chart sales. Expect those numbers to climb even further as Perfect continues to linger in the Top 100 some four years after its release.

1. Shape of You

The most streamed song in UK chart history, Shape of You tops the list of Ed Sheeran's biggest songs. The lead single from his ÷ album (released alongside Castle On The Hill) spent a mammoth 14 non-consecutive weeks at Number 1. Across its original version plus various remixes that featured Stormzy, Nyla & Kranium, Yxng Bane and Lennox & Zion, the song has been streamed a whopping 475 million times, and is approaching one million paid-for sales with 853,000 downloads. Shape of You's total combined sales stand at 5.09 million.

Further down the Top 10, Ed's most popular song not to peak at Number 1 Castle On The Hill ranks fourth (2.9m combined sales) while his debut single, second million-seller and best-seller on physical formats The A Team lands in fifth (2.5m). Despite not being an Official Singles Chart Top 10 hit, Photograph finishes in sixth (2.27m) followed by the Irish trad-inspired Galway Girl in seventh (2.25m).

Number 1 singles I Don't Care (2.19m) and Sing (1.8m) sit in eighth and ninth respectively, with Ed's fourth-most downloaded track Lego House rounding out the Top 10 (1.6m).

Ed Sheeran's Official Top 20 biggest songs on the Official UK Chart

POS TITLE ARTIST PEAK YEAR
1 SHAPE OF YOU ED SHEERAN 1 2017
2 PERFECT ED SHEERAN 1 2017
3 THINKING OUT LOUD ED SHEERAN 1 2014
4 CASTLE ON THE HILL ED SHEERAN 2 2017
5 THE A TEAM ED SHEERAN 3 2011
6 PHOTOGRAPH ED SHEERAN 15 2014
7 GALWAY GIRL ED SHEERAN 2 2017
8 I DON'T CARE ED SHEERAN & JUSTIN BIEBER 1 2019
9 SING ED SHEERAN 1 2014
10 LEGO HOUSE ED SHEERAN 5 2011
11 BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE ED SHEERAN FT KHALID 1 2019
12 OWN IT STORMZY/ED SHEERAN/BURNA BOY 1 2019
13 DON'T ED SHEERAN 8 2014
14 BLOODSTREAM ED SHEERAN 2 2014
15 TAKE ME BACK TO LONDON ED SHEERAN FT STORMZY 1 2019
16 HAPPIER ED SHEERAN 6 2017
17 RIVER EMINEM FT ED SHEERAN 1 2017
18 I SEE FIRE ED SHEERAN 13 2013
19 SUPERMARKET FLOWERS ED SHEERAN 8 2017
20 SOUTH OF THE BORDER ED SHEERAN/CABELLO/CARDI B 4 2019

©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

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NN

Nu No

0

What's Ed Sheeran total equivalent song sales in UK?
I'm pretty sure he is already the best selling Song Artist of all time in UK but what's the right number?

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T2

0

Then why are Evergreen and Attention the ONLY Ed Sheeran songs that iHeart radio plays?

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crunch2k

2

These numbers are just insane!!! I feel like Ed gets so much disrespect from loads of people when the guy has made some of the biggest hits from the past 10 years!

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Bengy

1

Shape of You's total combined sales stand at 5.09 million.

Due to streams this total is just meaningless. You can't add download sales to streaming equivalent sales. Just keep 2 separate lists. Such sales figures are merely re-writing history when billions of streams are added on.

Just wait a few years and every single released will go Platinum. This merely devalues previous BPI certifications.

S

SheriooSiiiiiR7

1

Its for every artist innit?
If there were no streaming, people would have downloaded and brought every record.

NN

Nu No

0

Especially when physical singles are so much expensive and always had bettween 2 and 6 tracks (not just 1 song as digital songs and streams!).

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Bengy

1

A mere listen to a song is not an actual sale. Not comparable.
Keep them separate.

CP

Courtney Puzzo

4

that would make Shape Of You the 2nd Best selling single in UK history behind Elton John's Candle In The Wind 1997/Something About The Way You Look Tonight which has shipped 5.4 million copies rounding out the top 5 are Band Aid Do They Know It's Christmas with 3.8 million Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You with 3 million and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody at 2.5 million

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crunch2k

2

From what I can see it would put Shape Of You as the best selling UK single as Candle in the Wind sold 4.9 million copies?

NN

Nu No

0

What about "Perfect"? They say in the article it sold "a combined 3.9 million chart sales". This would mean he have #02 and #03 best selling combined singles of all time. Also would have #05 as "Thinking Out Loud" stands at 3.7 million (according to this article). This is pretty unbeliveble but it's what they wrote...

NN

Nu No

0

4.9 million PHYSICAL SALES but 5.4 million Sales Chart (including downloads and streams).

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crunch2k

-1

can't see anywhere confirming the 5.4 m