Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ becomes the first song to hit 3 billion streams on Spotify

‘I remember this song hitting a billion and thinking that that was weird,’ Sheeran said

Ed Sheeran’s hit song “Shape of You” has made history by becoming the first song to hit three billion streams on Spotify.

On Wednesday (22 December), the 30-year-old singer posted a video of himself revealing the news.

“I’ve just heard ‘Shape of You’ has reached 3 billion streams on Spotify, which is absolutely insane,” Sheeran said. “I remember this song hitting a billion and thinking that that was weird.”

He added: “The first song to hit 3 billion streams and I’m really, really chuffed with it. Thank you, Spotify, for your support over the years. We’ve had a great 10 years together and hopefully, we have a great 10 years more.”

The “Bad Habits” singer also shared a story about the origin of the song.

“‘Shape Of You’ Wasn’t really meant to make the album,” he revealed. “But when I finished making the song, Ben Cook, from my label, said it had to be a single – but I wanted ‘Castle on the Hill’ to be the single. We put both songs out at once and... I was wrong. Here we are with ‘Shape of You’ at 3 billion.”

Earlier this year, Sheeran dropped his fourth studio album = (Equals) which took the number one spot on the Spotify Top 10 Album Debuts charts both globally and in the US.

The singer also released a Christmas song collaboration with Elton John, titled “Merry Christmas”.

During a recent appearance on the Teach Me a Lesson podcast, the singer announced that he plans on quitting major tours in 2022 so he can spend more time with his wife Cherry Seaborn and their 16-month-old daughter, Lyra.

Sheeran said his forthcoming Mathematics tour will likely be his last stadium tour.

The Mathematics tour begins next April in Dublin, and Sheeran will be performing across Europe until September.