Since its release 23 weeks ago, Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (pronounced “divide”) album has remained in the Top 3 of the Official Albums Chart. So much so that it is being touted as the biggest album of 2017. This week, however, it is facing stiff competition from a new compilation from the late King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley.
The 40th death anniversary of Presley will be on August 16. A compilation of 50 of his greatest hits was released to commemorate it. It is currently leading the race for the number 1 slot in the chart according to Music News. It is leading Ed Sheeran’s album by less than 200 combined chart sales.
Speaking of Sheeran’s latest album, the “Castle on the Hill” singer took a moment in one of his concerts at the Staples Center last week to talk about one of his songs from the album. According to Sheeran, he discovered that “Hearts Don’t Break Around Here” was not getting as much attention as the other songs.
It was for this reason that he didn’t play the acoustic song in his concerts as well. Well, until he decided to do it one night. Since it got a good reaction from the crowd, he now performs the song more often as he did for the capacity Staples Center crowd Thursday night.
Ed Sheeran’s “÷” has more than 2 million sales-and-streaming units in the the United States as per Nielsen Music. The song “Shape of You” has topped Billboard’s Hot 100 for months since the album’s release reports the LA Times.
Meanwhile, Elvis Presley last got on the Official Albums Chart Top 5 in August 2016 with his collaborative album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra titled “The Wonder of You.” If his latest compilation hit continues its stay on the top spot, Presley’s record as the solo artist with the most UK Number 1 albums will be extended to 14 chart toppers.