Ed Sheeran: Top 50 Songs

Ed Sheeran Top 50 Songs

Singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran was born on 2/17/1991 in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. He released his debut album, Plus (+) in 2011. His songs “Thinking Out Loud,” “Shape of You,” and “Perfect” are featured in the Dave’s Music Database book The Top 100 Songs of the Digital Era, 2000-2019. His albums Multiply (X) and Divide (÷) will both be featured in the upcoming Dave’s Music Database book The Top 100 Albums of the 21st Century. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. DMDB Top 1%: 1. Shape of You (2017) 2. Thinking Out Loud (2014) 3. Perfect (with Beyoncé, 2017) 4. Love Yourself (written by Sheeran, performed by Justin Bieber) DMDB Top 2%: 5. I Don’t Care (with Justin Bieber, 2019) 6. Bad Habits (2021) DMDB Top 5%: 7. Photograph (2014) 8. The A Team (2011) 9. Castle on the Hill (2017) 10. Shivers (2021) DMDB Top 10%: 11. Don’t (2014) 12. Sing (2014) 13. Beautiful People (with Khalid, 2019) 14. River (with Eminem, 2017) 15. Lego House (2011) 16. Bam Bam (with Camila Cabello, 2022) 17. I See Fire (2013) 18. Everything Has Changed (with Taylor Swift, 2012) 19. Galway Girl (2017) DMDB Top 20%: 20. Happier (2017) 21. Afterglow (2020) 22. Merry Christmas (with Elton John, 2021) 23. End Game (with Taylor Swift & Future, 2017) 24. South of the Border (with Camila Cabello & Cardi B, 2019) 25. Give Me Love (2011) 26. Dive (2017) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 27. Cross Me (with Chance the Rapper & PnB Rock, 2019) 28. One (2014) 29. Supermarket Flowers (2017) 30. Lay It All on Me (with Rudimental, 2015) 31. Those Kinda Nights (with Eminem, 2020) 32. Peru (with Fireboy DML, 2022) 33. How Would You Feel (Paean) (2017) 34. New Man (2017) 35. What Do I Know? (2017) 36. Barcelona (2017) 37. Eraser (2017) 38. Hearts Don’t Break Around Here (2017) 39. Blow (with Chris Stapleton, 2019) 40. Make It Rain (2014) 41. Take Me Back to London (with Stormzy, 2019) 42. Eyes Closed (2023) 43. Own It (with Stormzy & Burna Boy, 2019) 44. Remember the Name (with Eminem & 50 Cent, 2019) 45. Afire Love (2014) 46. The Joker and the Queen (with Taylor Swift, 2021) 47. Candle in the Wind (2014) 48. Bloodstream (with Rudimental, 2014) 49. Antisocial (with Travis Scott, 2019) 50. Overpass Graffiti (2021) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Ed Sheeran Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 5/7/2023.

Ed Sheeran hit #1 with "Perfect"

Perfect Ed Sheeran with Beyoncé

Writer(s): Ed Sheeran (see lyrics here) Released: September 26, 2017 First Charted: March 25, 2017 Peak: 16 US, 19 BA, 18 DG, 11 ST, 12 RR, 122 AC, 19 A40, 16 UK, 16 CN, 18 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 2.4 UK, 21.4 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 4.0 radio, 4807.0 video, 2548.03 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Perfect” first hit the charts in March 2017 when Ed Sheeran’s third studio album, Divide (÷) was released. All sixteen of the album’s tracks debuted in the top 20 in the UK and Sheeran occupied nine of the top 10 slots that week, with “Perfect” coming in at #4. WK In the U.S., ten of the album’s songs debuted on the charts with “Perfect” launching at #37. WK Six months later it was officially released as a single and in December an acoustic duet version with Beyoncé was released. The latter pushed the song to #1 on the pop charts in the U.S. The song also topped the charts in the UK and nineteen other countries. WK The song became Sheeran’s third to spend more than a year on the Billboard Hot 100, following “Shape of You” and “Thinking Out Loud.” He was the first solo artist to do so with three separate singles. SF “Perfect” was the first Sheeran wrote for his third album, was a romantic ballad about his girlfriend Cherry Seaborn. He initially met her in school and then then reconnected when she was working in New York. He said the lyrical inspiration came from a visit to fellow singer James Blunt’s house in Ibiza, where they listened to the music of rapper Future, WK specifically “March Madness.” SF After he wrote it, he sent it to Cherry in New York, but didn’t get to see her reaction to the song. SF He told Zane Lowe in an interview that he wanted to outdo previous ballad “Thinking Out Loud” because “I know that song was going to define me.” WK As a final wish of his grandmother, Sheeran collaborated with his brother Matthew, who provided string orchestration on the song. WK The full orchestration was used in a third version of the song, known as “Perfect Symphony,” which featured Andrea Bocelli. Parts of the instrumentation were used in the original version. WK The video was directed by Jason Koenig, who also helmed Sheeran’s chart-topping “Shape of You.” It was filmed at an Austrian ski resort and depicted Sheeran and actress Zoey Deutch on a ski trip, dancing in the snow, and ending up in a cabin together. MTV UK’s Ross McNeilage called the video a “Christmas dream.” WK It wasn’t actually a Christmas song or video, but the snow gave it a wintery theme. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 7/25/2023.

Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” released

Thinking Out Loud Ed Sheeran

Writer(s): Ed Sheeran, Amy Wadge, Julian Williams (see lyrics here) Released: September 24, 2014 First Charted: October 25, 2014 Peak: 2 US, 11 DG, 11 RR, 119 AC, 16 A40, 26 AA, 11 UK, 2 CN, 15 AU, 13 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 12.0 US, 3.0 UK, 19.5 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 4.0 radio, 3518.7 video, 2274.38 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Thinking Out Loud” was the third single from Sheeran’s second studio album, X (or Multiply). The song took 19 weeks to climb to #1 in the UK WK and went on to become the first single to spend a full year in the UK top 40. WK In the U.S., it peaked at #2 for eight weeks behind “Uptown Funk!” It became the first song to be streamed over 500 million times on Spotify. WK Sheeran wrote the song with Amy Wadge, a Wales-based singer/songwriter whom Sheeran met when he was seventeen years old. When she visited him in February 2014, he was nearly finished with his album. Sheeran heard her playing guitar and the tune caught his attention. He wrote the song in 20 minutes and then recorded it on his phone. The next day he recorded it in the studio. WK Sheeran later explained he wrote the song about his then-girlfriend Athina Andrelos and about “everlasting love” at “a really, really happy point.” WK It became a popular first-dance wedding number, topping Spotify’s 2017 list of the most popular wedding songs in America. SF The romantic ballad had blue-eyed soul influences. Sheeran composed the melody on guitar which he considered in the style of Irish musician Van Morrison. WK He told Q magazine, “Everyone always channels Michael Jackson and the Beatles and Bob Dylan…I feel like Van Morrison is a key figure in the music that I make.” SF Some noted the song had similarities to Marvin Gaye’s 1973 song “Let’s Get It On.” Billboard’s Jason Lipshutz even called it a “sleek update” of the classic. WK The heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote and co-produced “Let’s Get It On,” sued Sheeran for plagiarizing the song. SF The lawsuit was dismissed because the complaint wasn’t served before the deadline of January 20, 2017. SF Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 7/24/2023.