![\"Ed](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Ed_Sheeran_3,_2013.jpg\")
<\/a>Ed<\/p>\n Edward Christopher Sheeran<\/b>\u00a0(\/\u02c8<\/span>\u0283<\/span>\u026a\u0259r<\/span>\u0259n<\/span>\/<\/a><\/span><\/span>; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, actor, and businessman. After first recording music in 2004, he began gaining attention through YouTube. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play,\u00a0No. 5 Collaborations Project<\/a><\/i>. He signed with\u00a0Asylum Records<\/a>\u00a0the same year.<\/p>\n Sheeran’s debut album,\u00a0+<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(pronounced «plus»), was released in September 2011 and topped the\u00a0UK Albums Chart<\/a>. It contained his first hit single «The A Team<\/a>«. In 2012, Sheeran won the\u00a0Brit Awards<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Best British Male Solo Artist<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0British Breakthrough Act<\/a>. Sheeran’s second studio album,\u00a0\u00d7<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(pronounced «multiply»), was released in June 2014. It was named the second-best-selling album worldwide of 2015. In the same year,\u00a0\u00d7<\/i>\u00a0won\u00a0Album of the Year<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a02015 Brit Awards<\/a>, and he received the\u00a0Ivor Novello Award<\/a>\u00a0for Songwriter of the Year from the\u00a0British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors<\/a>. A single from\u00a0\u00d7<\/i>, «Thinking Out Loud<\/a>«, earned him the 2016\u00a0Grammy Awards<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Song of the Year<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Best Pop Solo Performance<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sheeran’s third album,\u00a0\u00f7<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(pronounced «divide»), was released in March 2017, and was the\u00a0best-selling album worldwide of 2017<\/a>. The first two singles from the album, «Shape of You<\/a>» and «Castle on the Hill<\/a>«, 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\u00a0\u00f7<\/i>\u00a0on the\u00a0UK Singles Chart<\/a>, breaking the record for most top 10 UK singles from one album. His fourth single from\u00a0\u00f7<\/i>, «Perfect<\/a>«, reached number one in the US, Australia and the UK, where it became the\u00a0Christmas number one<\/a>\u00a0in 2017. The world’s best-selling artist of 2017, he was named the\u00a0Global Recording Artist of the Year<\/a>. Released in 2019, his fourth studio album\u00a0No.6 Collaborations Project<\/a><\/i>\u00a0debuted at number one in most major markets, and spawned three UK number one singles, «I Don’t Care<\/a>«, «Beautiful People<\/a>» and «Take Me Back to London<\/a>«.<\/p>\n