Ed Sheeran thanks fans after his album hits Spotify streaming milestone

Ed Sheeran has thanked his fans as he revealed that more than one billion people have streamed his new album.

The singer, 30, released his fourth solo studio album =, or Equals, last week.

It is the latest instalment in the Suffolk singer-songwriter’s mathematical symbol series.

The album, which was among the year’s most highly anticipated music releases, includes the UK number one singles Shivers and Bad Habits.

Alongside an image which showed the album’s streaming statistics, Sheeran wrote on Instagram: “= (equals) has hit a Billion streams on @spotify.

“Thank you so so much for all the love and for listening to it as much as you have.

“I’m so proud of it, glad you like it as much as I do. Have an awesome weekend x.”

Earlier this week, the Official Charts Company revealed the album was “racing ahead” in the chart this week.

His new release is a follow-up to 2017’s Divide.

The album comes after Sheeran married long-term partner Cherry Seaborn in 2019 and welcomed daughter Lyra Antarctica the following year.

The singer tested positive for Covid-19 less than a week before the release of the album and was forced to give planned interviews and performances from his home.