Ed Sheeran presented with special award after becoming first British artist to hit ten billion UK streams

Ed Sheeran has been honoured with a special Brit Billion Award as he becomes the first British artist to surpass ten billion streams in the UK.

The singer-songwriter, 32, was presented with the Gold award by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the record industry’s trade association, following analysis by the Official Charts Company.

According to its data, more than one billion of the streams occurred in the last 12 months.

Three of his tracks are also within the top ten most-streamed songs of all time with Shape Of You taking the second spot, Perfect at number three and Bad Habits holding on to number nine.

Sheeran said: “It’s wonderful to receive the first-ever Brit Billion Award in the UK for ten billion streams.

Following the news, he added: “I want to say a big thank you to my fans. None of this is possible without you guys x.”

The seven-time Brit Award winner has dominated the charts across his career, with all six of his studio albums peaking at number one.

Last Friday, he released his latest album, Autumn Variations, which is his second record this year after producing the chart-topping – (Subtract) in May.