Ed Sheeran's Official Top 40 biggest songs

Including which of his singles is the UK's most-streamed song ever.

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The last ten years have seen Ed Sheeran quickly rise to global superstardom and keep a firm grip over pop ever since. 

His new album = (Equals) is being billed as his most personal yet, featuring songs about his marriage, the birth of his daughter and loss. But even when he's not been singing about himself, Ed has always had a knack for telling relatable stories with certain a level of authenticity. They also just happen to be packed with undeniable hooks.

Below, we delve into the numbers behind Ed's Official Top 40 biggest songs to reveal ten incredible chart facts, before revealing the full chart at the bottom of the page.   

1. Total chart sales across Ed Sheeran's Top 40 hits on the Official Singles Chart: 60.3 million

Ed's total of Top 40 hits is currently at 47 - expect that to climb this Friday and in the coming months as he pushes more singles from =. Since making his debut with The A Team in June 2011, Ed has averaged almost 5 (4.7) Top 40 singles a year. Oh, and that 60.3 million figure includes 5.7 billion streams.

MORE: Ed Sheeran's Official UK Chart history in full

2. Shape Of You is Ed Sheeran's biggest song.

Perhaps unsurprising, but the lead single from Ed's Divide album is his biggest track in the UK, with 5.26 million chart sales (sales and streams combined.) The song enjoyed 13 consecutive weeks at Number 1 in 2017, seeing off challenges for Number 1 from himself (with Castle On The Hill, How Would You Feel (Paean) and Galway Girl), Rag'n'Bone Man's Human, and Chainsmokers and Coldplay's Something Just Like This, before being dethroned by Harry Styles' Sign Of The Times... and then returning to the summit for a final week.


Ed and Beyonce collaborated on a remix of Perfect in 2017.

Perfect is Ed's longest-running hit in the Top 100

Ed's big ballad from Divide was a near-instant pop classic upon release, and has logged 187 weeks to date in the Top 100 - his longest-running song on the chart by a considerable margin. With a little help from Beyonce and Andrea Bocelli, who featured on duet remixes of the song, Perfect claimed 2017's Official Christmas Number 1. It ranks second on his overall biggest songs with a mighty 4.14 million chart sales. 

22 Ed Sheeran songs have over 1 million UK chart sales

A staggering feat, we're sure you'll agree. Ed's most recent single to tip over the 1 million mark is Bad Habits, the lead single from =, which places 18th on his overall Top 40.

Shape Of You is the UK’s most-streamed song of all time.

The sheer number of hits to Ed's name means it's basically impossible to pin one song down as his signature hit, but if you had to name one, it would probably be Shape Of You. It's the UK's most-streamed song of all time, with an eye-watering 496 million plays.


Ed with his Official Number 1 Single Award for Shape Of You.

Ed's biggest non-single is Supermarket Flowers.

Ed's album tracks have a habit of finding their way into the charts from time to time (ahem), and this track from his Divide album peaked at Number 8 despite never been pushed as a single. It's currently Ed's 20th biggest song with 1.24 million chart sales.

Photograph is Ed’s biggest song to miss the Top 10.

Despite peaking at Number 15 on the Official Singles Chart, Photograph - which served as the fifth and final single from his x album - is one of Ed's most enduring hits, placing sixth on his all-time Top 40 with 2.38 million chart sales.

Ed’s biggest collaboration is I Don’t Care.

The duet with Justin Bieber trailed his star-packed No.6 Collaborations Project in 2019, and topped the Official Singles Chart for eight weeks. It places at Number 8 overall and leads nine collabs in Ed’s Top 40. His biggest where he’s not the lead artist is Stormzy’s Own It (12), which also features Burna Boy.


Ed and Justin in the I Don't Care music video.

Tenerife Sea is Ed’s biggest song to miss the Top 40.

Co-written with Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid, Foy Vance, and produced by Rick Rubin for his x album, Tenerife Sea wasn't given the single treatment but still managed to peak at Number 62. A song dedicated to his mum, the track ranks at Number 31 in his all-time Top 40.

Ed’s biggest song to miss the Top 100 is Kiss Me.

Eight songs from Ed's debut album + have landed in the UK Top 100, but one that has been quietly bubbling away is Kiss Me, which places at 38 and has 585,000 chart sales, despite never entering the Official Singles Chart.

Ed Sheeran's Official Top 40 biggest songs

  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 BAD HABITS ED SHEERAN 1 2021
19 I SEE FIRE ED SHEERAN 13 2013
20 SUPERMARKET FLOWERS ED SHEERAN 8 2017
21 SOUTH OF THE BORDER ED SHEERAN/CABELLO/CARDI B 4 2019
22 DIVE ED SHEERAN 8 2017
23 LAY IT ALL ON ME RUDIMENTAL FT ED SHEERAN 12 2015
24 DRUNK ED SHEERAN 9 2011
25 WHAT DO I KNOW ED SHEERAN 9 2017
26 YOU NEED ME I DON'T NEED YOU ED SHEERAN 4 2011
27 NEW MAN ED SHEERAN 5 2017
28 GIVE ME LOVE ED SHEERAN 18 2012
29 CROSS ME ED SHEERAN/CHANCE/PNB ROCK 4 2019
30 EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED TAYLOR SWIFT FT ED SHEERAN 7 2012
31 TENERIFE SEA ED SHEERAN 62 2017
32 HOW WOULD YOU FEEL (PAEAN) ED SHEERAN 2 2017
33 BARCELONA ED SHEERAN 12 2017
34 SMALL BUMP ED SHEERAN 25 2012
35 NANCY MULLIGAN ED SHEERAN 13 2017
36 ONE ED SHEERAN 18 2014
37 I'M A MESS ED SHEERAN 49 2014
38 KISS ME ED SHEERAN NA 2011
39 HEARTS DON'T BREAK AROUND HERE ED SHEERAN 15 2017
40 ERASER ED SHEERAN 14 2017

©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

Article image: Dan Martensen

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crunch2k

0

Seriously the numbers in this are insane, I think it's fair to say that Divide was the peak of Ed but still props to him for everything he achieved over the last 10 years

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Bengy

0

You say 60.3 million sales.

But MTV gave a figure of 62.76m on 12/5/21 (with chart sales to sometime in April 2021, presumably based on OCC figures).

So who is correct??

GF

Gary Feld

3

Can we have some pure selling sales info for Ed's 2 pure million sellers? 🤔

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crunch2k

-2

"pure" sales mean nothing now when the majority of people stream instead of buy