Edward Christopher Sheeran, MBE (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (pronounced "plus"), was released in September 2011. It topped the UK and Australian charts, reached number five in the US, and has since been certified eight-times platinum in the UK.
The album contains the single "The A Team", which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John.
Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for narrative songs about her personal life, which have received widespread media coverage. At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at 15, she signed her first record deal.
Her 2006 eponymous debut album was the longest-charting album of the 2000s in the US. Its third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008.
Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", it became the US' best-selling album of 2009 and was certified diamond in the US. The album won four Grammy Awards, and Swift became the youngest Album of the Year winner.
Ed Sheeran has been named the most played artist of 2023, beating out close competition from Taylor Swift.The Suffolk-raised singer, songwriter and guitarist has topped the charts when it comes to the most listened-to artist in the UK over the last year – ranking at the tip of the list when it comes to having his music played across radio, television and public spaces.The study was carried out by the music licensing company PPL, who compiled all of the data across January to December last year, and made a rank of the most played artists across the country.As aforementioned, Sheeran was closely followed on the list by Taylor Swift, with the latter becoming the second most-listened-to artist in the UK.
The year prior she was in 10th position, and the huge leap sees her match the previous high she had in 2015. The jump is expected to be a result of her announcing her international ‘Eras Tour’ shows last year, and subsequently announcing her latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.Discussing the news that he had topped the list, Sheeran said: “Thank you for naming me the most played artist for last year.
Thank you to my team, not just for me, but for all the other artists you work with – I’m happy that you get this recognition.”Dua Lipa was named as the third most played artist on the list – no doubt aided by her hit contribution to the Barbie soundtrack, ‘Dance The Night’ – and the Number Four position was filled by Calvin Harris.David Guetta, Sir Elton John and Coldplay filled up spots five, six and seven respectively, and eighth place was taken by new entrant Tom Grennan.
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