Ed Sheeran has matched the UK performance of No.6 Collaborations Project by topping the US Top 200 albums chart.
The album, featuring guest stars including Eminem, Ella Mai and Justin Bieber, opened at No.1 in the UK - but with 18.6% of the week one sales total for ÷ in March 2017.
However, the US performance was closer to the previous album’s total. No.6 Collaborations Project opened with 173,000 equivalent album units, compared to 322,000 sales for ÷ and a further 90,000 streaming equivalent album units for a total of 451,000 equivalent album units (including downloads). The X album scored 209,000 weekly sales in 2014 (before streams were counted).
No.6 Collaborations Project delivered the largest sales week of the year for a pop album by a male artist - Shawn Mendes was the last male pop artist to top that opening sale, in June 2018. Overall, it was the seventh largest opening behind Jonas Brothers, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Backstreet Boys, BTS and Khalid.
While physical sales were the biggest single element in the UK, in the US – a more advanced streaming market – DSPs led the way by helping the new album register 93,000 SEA units.
The 70,000 album sales were not boosted by any ticket bundling, which has helped some acts secure high chart positions in the US.
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