Ed Sheehan’s acclaimed new album is anything but divisive

On March 3, beloved ginger and British heartthrob Ed Sheeran released his newest album, Divide, stylized as ÷.  Though it has not even been out for a month, the album has already made history in the UK and worldwide.

“I love his album!  It has the typical calm Ed Sheeran songs, and the really fun and poppy dance songs,” said senior Allison Khin. “My favorite song is probably ‘Galway Girl.’”

The album, already certified triple platinum, broke the record on its opening day  for the album with the most plays on Spotify in one day.  This record was previously held by The Weeknd’s Starboy with 29 million  listens.

However, Sheeran soon smashed this record, almost doubling it with 56.73 million plays on March 3.  This is not the only record that Sheeran broke with respect to The Weeknd.

Also on March 3, fans listened to all of Sheeran’s music on Spotify a total of 68.7 million times, raising the bar past The Weeknd’s previous record of 40.3 million plays in one day.

He now holds the first, second, and third slots for the most plays of one song on Spotify in one day.

Divide is definitely Ed Sheeran’s best album.  His lyrics are genius, and his songs are so catchy.  I didn’t expect to love his album so much, but he’s just so talented!” said sophomore Brittany Polevikov.

Sheeran isn’t just breaking other’s records with Divide.

His song “Shape of You” broke his previous record in January for most streams of a single song in one day, with 10.12 million streams on March 3.

This sensational hit has headed Billboard’s Hot 100 for over five non-consecutive weeks, and the album has been number one in the UK for over 3 consecutive weeks.  In its first three days, Divide sold 432,000 copies, more than double the entire UK Top 200.

Currently, the only singer that has sold more records than Sheeran in the past decade is Adele, and he looks to exceed her 20 million sales for her latest album 25.

Of course, with such a wildly successful album, Sheeran is already on a world tour.

The Divide tour started in Italy on March 16, and the singer-songwriter will be traveling all over Europe, North America, and South and Central America.

His last tour in July 2015 broke records, so it’s no surprise that tickets for this tour sold out in just five minutes.

“I’ve always been a fan but when the first two singles came out from this album I got even more excited for the release of the full thing,” said junior Lauren Seltzer.  “I’ve listened to it so much since it came out, and it even inspired me to buy tickets that same week!  Some of my current favorite songs are from that album.”

Prior to the release of ÷, Sheeran stated that unlike his previous albums, + and x, this album would not continue the mathematical theme.  As we now know, this is not true.  Will we be expecting a – album soon?  For now, Sheeran is riding the high of Divide’s success.

“I feel like Divide just came out of nowhere.  I heard ‘Shape of You,’ and immediately I was hooked.  Soon after, I listened to the whole album, and now I can’t stop listening,” said junior Tali Crowley.