÷ (pronounced "divide") is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 3 March 2017 through Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. "Castle on the Hill" and "Shape of You" were released as the album's lead singles on 6 January 2017.
On 13 December 2015, Sheeran announced a self-imposed hiatus from social media, commenting that he found himself "seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes." He further ensured that some of this time would be spent creating his third album, which he considered "the best thing I have made thus far." Exactly one year after this announcement, on 13 December 2016, Sheeran's various social media platforms posted pictures of a blank blue square to state his imminent return to music. On 1 January 2017, Sheeran officially ended his hiatus by announcing that "new music" would be released on 6 January. On 12 January 2017, Sheeran revealed the track list and the release date for the album.
The album ÷ received mostly positive reviews from critics. Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian gave the album a negative two-star rating out of five, calling it "no less calculating than his peers at the very top level of pop stardom". Roisin O'Connor of The Independent gave it a four-star rating, claiming " leans on little asides from Sheeran's own talent" and that it was "astonishing for its sheer ambition alone". After commenting on the album's "missteps," Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press said that it "is certain to add listeners, subtract a few weary of his inconsistency, but definitely multiply his bank account," and ultimately called Sheeran "a special talent."
The album sold 232,000 physical and digital copies in the UK in its first day of release without the inclusion of streaming data, more than the sales of Sheeran's previous album x in its first week. The tracks of the album also achieved a total of 56.73 million streams worldwide on Spotify in a single day, breaking the previous record of 29 million for Starboy by The Weeknd in November 2016. In total, all tracks by Sheeran were streamed 68.7 million times that day, breaking the previous record of 40.3 million streams of The Weeknd, with the single from ÷ "Shape of You" receiving 10.12 million streams, itself another record.
"Castle on the Hill" and "Shape of You", the album's lead singles, were issued on 6 January 2017. Sheeran teased the tracks on social media during the week leading up to their release, posting instrumental extracts and each song's opening lyric.÷ (pronounced "divide") is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 3 March 2017 through Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. "Castle on the Hill" and "Shape of You" were released as the album's lead singles on 6 January 2017.
On 13 December 2015, Sheeran announced a self-imposed hiatus from social media, commenting that he found himself "seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes." He further ensured that some of this time would be spent creating his third album, which he considered "the best thing I have made thus far." Exactly one year after this announcement, on 13 December 2016, Sheeran's various social media platforms posted pictures of a blank blue square to state his imminent return to music. On 1 January 2017, Sheeran officially ended his hiatus by announcing that "new music" would be released on 6 January. On 12 January 2017, Sheeran revealed the track list and the release date for the album.
The album ÷ received mostly positive reviews from critics. Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian gave the album a negative two-star rating out of five, calling it "no less calculating than his peers at the very top level of pop stardom". Roisin O'Connor of The Independent gave it a four-star rating, claiming " leans on little asides from Sheeran's own talent" and that it was "astonishing for its sheer ambition alone". After commenting on the album's "missteps," Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press said that it "is certain to add listeners, subtract a few weary of his inconsistency, but definitely multiply his bank account," and ultimately called Sheeran "a special talent."
The album sold 232,000 physical and digital copies in the UK in its first day of release without the inclusion of streaming data, more than the sales of Sheeran's previous album x in its first week. The tracks of the album also achieved a total of 56.73 million streams worldwide on Spotify in a single day, breaking the previous record of 29 million for Starboy by The Weeknd in November 2016. In total, all tracks by Sheeran were streamed 68.7 million times that day, breaking the previous record of 40.3 million streams of The Weeknd, with the single from ÷ "Shape of You" receiving 10.12 million streams, itself another record.
"Castle on the Hill" and "Shape of You", the album's lead singles, were issued on 6 January 2017. Sheeran teased the tracks on social media during the week leading up to their release, posting instrumental extracts and each song's opening lyric.false2022-08-11 17:31:53÷6.720172017-03-032017-03-0360FolkFolk PopIndie PopPopPop RockRockSinger-Songwriter11161122779910fc05d92-255c-4a91-b3ed-de6b63210ca1b8a7c51f-362c-4dcb-a259-bc6e0095f0a6e05f9927-e24b-41c5-928d-d0e008a12444/config/metadata/library/65/65fe697ed5e73d58bd6fbfe9429d78bd/folder.jpgEd SheeranAlbumArtist/config/metadata/People/E/Ed Sheeran/folder.jpgEd SheeranArtist/config/metadata/People/E/Ed Sheeran/folder.jpgEd SheeranEd SheeranEdward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project. He signed with Asylum Records the same year.
Sheeran's debut album, + (pronounced "plus"), was released in September 2011 and topped the UK Albums Chart. It contained his first hit single "The A Team". In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. Sheeran's second studio album, × (pronounced "multiply"), topped charts around the world upon its release in June 2014. It was named the second-best-selling album worldwide of 2015. In the same year, × won Album of the Year at the 2015 Brit Awards, and he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. A single from ×, "Thinking Out Loud", earned him the 2016 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
Sheeran's third album, ÷ (pronounced "divide"), was released in March 2017, and was the best-selling album worldwide of 2017. The first two singles from the album, "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill", broke records in a number of countries by debuting in the top two positions of the charts. He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week. By March 2017, Sheeran had accumulated ten top 10 singles from ÷ on the UK Singles Chart, breaking the record for most top 10 UK singles from one album. His fourth single from ÷, "Perfect", reached number one in the US, Australia and the UK, where it became the Christmas number one in 2017. The world's best-selling artist of 2017, he was named the Global Recording Artist of the Year. Released in 2019, his fourth studio album No.6 Collaborations Project debuted at number one in most major markets, and spawned three UK number one singles, "I Don't Care", "Beautiful People" and "Take Me Back to London". His fifth studio album, = (pronounced "equals"), topped the charts in most major markets in 2021.
Sheeran has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has 101 million RIAA-certified units in the US, and two of his albums are in the list of the best-selling albums in UK chart history. In December 2019, the Official Charts Company named him artist of the decade, with the most combined success in the UK album and singles charts in the 2010s. Globally, Spotify named him the second most streamed artist of the decade. Beginning in March 2017, his ÷ Tour became the highest-grossing of all time in August 2019. An alumnus of the National Youth Theatre in London, Sheeran's acting roles include appearing in the 2019 film Yesterday.