Ed Sheeran Becomes First Ever Artist To Hit 100 Million Spotify Followers
Ed Sheeran has hit a milestone streaming record, becoming the first artist to ever hit 100 million followers on Spotify.
The English singer-songwriter has taken to Twitter today (July 27), sharing a video in which he shows off a white t-shirt that was sent to him by the streaming service that reads “ASK ME ABOUT MY 100 MILLION SPOTIFY FOLLOWERS” in all-caps. In the clip, shot before a show on Sheeran’s current stadium tour, Sheeran then comedically goes up to disinterested staff at the venue in order to get their attention with the shirt.
The only person in the video who gives a positive response is singer Maisie Peters, Sheeran’s current live support act, who replies: “Well done, Ed Sheeran!”
Sheeran is now the most-followed artist on the streaming service, ahead of Ariana Grande (81.64million), Billie Eilish (66.18m), Drake (65.40m) and Justin Bieber (63.49m). Sheeran was also the first artist to hit 50 million followers on Spotify in March of 2020, and is the most streamed artist on the platform overall – with an average of 81.20 million monthly listeners.
The achievement is the latest in a series of ongoing successes for the English artist, who is responsible for two of the 10 biggest singles on the UK charts thus far in 2022 – his own Bad Habits at Number Four, and his Fireboy DML collaboration Peru at Number Two.
Yesterday, it was announced that Ed Sheeran had received five nominations for the 2022 MTV Music Video Awards, equally the number of nominations for Drake, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd. The Queen of Pop herself, Madonna, has also made history as the only artist to be nominated in each decade since the award show began. She was already the most awarded artist in VMA history, with 20 wins, and thanks to Madame X now boasts 69 career nominations.