Ed Sheeran passes 1 million milestone with X

Sheeran is the first to achieve the feat in a calendar year since Emili Sande

Ed Sheeran performing at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam (Getty Images)

Ed Sheeran is having a pretty damn awesome 2014.

The “Don’t” singer’s latest album X has attained million-selling status in the UK, making him the first artist to achieve this within a calendar year since Emeli Sande’s Our Version of Events in 2012.

It is expected that X will be certified quadruple platinum (1.2 million copies sold) before the end of the year, according to the Official Charts Company.

“F**kin’ buzzin’!” Ed said when asked how he is feeling.

Sheeran’s record is the fastest-selling UK album of 2014 so far and the longest-running number one since Adele’s 21 topped the charts for 11 consecutive weeks two years ago.

Pronounced ‘multiply’, X spent eight straight weeks at the top of the Official Albums Chart after its release on 20 June.

All twelve songs from the album made the Top 100, with “Thinking Out Loud” topping the singles chart after 19 weeks in the Top 40 to become the song with the longest climb to number one in history.

The romantic track has also smashed chart records for the most number of streams of a song in one week (1.64 million). State-side, X has given Sheeran his first US number one.

Other musicians to pass the coveted 1 million milestone include Adele in 2011 (21, 19), Take That in 2010 (Progress), Lady Gaga also in 2010 (The Game) and Susan Boyle in 2009 (I Dreamed A Dream).

Michael Buble, Bruno Mars, Black Eyed Peas and Kings of Leon have also seen their albums sell 1 million copies in the UK within a calendar year.