Ed Sheeran’s X breaks 1 million sales barrier in the UK

Ed Sheeran’s second album X has hit the 1 million sales mark in the UK, six months after its release there.

It has officially sold 1,005,002 units, according to figures released last night by the Official Charts Company and music trade body BPI.

It is expected to hit 1.2 million (4x Platinum) by the end of the Christmas sales. “I’m fucking buzzing!” the singer-songwriter said.

X is the 14th album in the UK in the last five years to break the 1 million mark within a calendar year. The last one was Emeli Sandé’s Our Version Of Events in 2012. Michael Buble and Lady Gaga have done it a number of times. Others in the exclusive club include Black Eyes Peas, Kings Of Leon, Susan Boyle, Take That and Bruno Mars.

X spent eight weeks at #1 in the UK. Official Charts CEO Martin Talbot, said: “What an incredible year for Ed Sheeran – having the best-selling and longest-running No.1 album of 2014 so far, two No.1 singles, and now X hitting the million album sales mark in the space of just a few months. 2014 has well and truly belonged to the Suffolk lad.”

Sheeran’s debut album + released in September 2011 hit the 1 million mark in 2012 and has sold 1.87 million copies to date in the UK.

The single Thinking Out Loud also smashed the records for the most number of streams in one week (1.638 million).

X reached #1 in Australia, quickly moving to double Platinum after its June 20 release and paving the way for his mammoth mostly sold-out tour in the autumn through Frontier Touring.

The album went to #1 in 12 countries, including the US, New Zealand, Denmark, Canada, Germany, Finland and Switzerland.