Ed Sheeran‘s 2017 pop-dancehall hit “Shape of You” is now certified 13x Platinum in the U.S. according to the Recording Industry Association Of America. The certification was given on Friday September 29, 2023 based on sales and on-demand streams. The song took the world by storm when it dropped on January 6, 2017, as part of his album “÷,” with catchy blend of pop, and dancehall rhythm.
Sheeran has over 100 million RIAA music certifications in the US and his other certifications on Friday include 16x Platinum for “Thinking Out Loud” (2014), 13x Platinum for the single “Perfect” (2017), Gold for “Autumn Leaves”(2011), Platinum for the album “=” (2021), 2x Platinum for “Shivers” and 3x Platinum for “Bad Habits.”
With the five new certifications Sheeran surpasses Juice World to become the 18th highest selling artist in the US.
Still on “Shape of You,” the song went to number one in 34 countries, including the US Billboard Hot 100 where it spend 32 weeks on the top 10, and on the U.K. singles chart where it became the best-performing songs in each country of 2017. It also topped the UK, Australia, Brazil and in Canada it held the number one position for 16 consecutive weeks.
The party starter which has claps from the Diwali Riddim produced by dancehall producer Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden surpassed Drake and Wizkid’s “One Dance” to become the the most streamed song on Spotify in September 2017 with over 1 billion streams. It the became the first track to surpass 2 billion streams on Spotify in December 2018, securing its place as the platform’s most streamed song of the 2010s. The song’s digital prowess extended to Apple Music, where it became the most-streamed track, amassing 930 million streams as of May 2023.
Globally, it ranked as the second best-selling digital song of all time, with combined sales and track-equivalent streams totaling 26.6 million units according to IFPI.
In April 2022, Ed scored a copyright infringement case victory with the song, as Judge Antony Zacaroli ruled in his favor that that “Shape of You” did not “deliberately nor subconsciously” infringe a 2015 song called “Oh Why” by a fellow U.K. artist Sami Switch.
It clinched the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards and received nominations for British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards.
“Shape of You” earned its place in music history when Billboard ranked it as the tenth most successful song of all time in 2021.
The music video has surpassed 6 billion streams on YouTube, only eclipse by Despacito by Loius Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee.
