Ed Sheeran continues to shatter chart records as ÷ heads for colossal first week sales of well over half a million.
The singer’s third album had sold 431,702 by close of play on Sunday, according to the Official Charts Company, with four sales days still to come. Sheeran holds three of the Top 5 places in the album charts and – remarkably – nine of the Top 10 spots in the singles chart. All 16 tracks from the LP are in the current Top 21.
The LP is already the sixth fastest-selling album of all-time in the UK and looks certain to enter the Top 3. Take That’s Progress (2010) is currently third on the list with first-week sales of 518,601.
Sheeran’s second album x is at No.4 in the midweeks with 12,081 units shifted, his debut + sitting at No.5 after moving 9,646 copies.
In the singles chart, Shape Of You is certain of a ninth week on top, leading Castle On The Hill by 56,469 sales to 28,729. Fellow ÷ tracks Galway Girl (No.3, 28,539 sales), Perfect (No.4, 23,554), New Man (No.6, 18,730), Dive (No.7, 18,554), Happier (No.8, 17,958), Supermarket Flowers (No.9, 17,518) and How Would You Feel (Paean) (No.10, 17,073), all crack the Top 10. Only The Chainsmokers & Coldplay’s Something Just Like This, which checks in at No.5, prevents Sheeran from completing a clean sweep.
Other ÷ songs on course to chart are What Do I Know (No.12), Eraser (No.14), Barcelona (No.15), Nancy Mulligan (No.16), Hearts Don’t Break Around Here (No.17), Bibia Be Ye Ye (No.18) and Save Myself (No.21).
