Because America can’t resist its Brits, Ed Sheeran has swooped back in from his hiatus with a new Billboard chart record. He’s the first artist to ever have two songs simultaneously debut in the Hot 100’s Top 10. So, how high did they go and which one did his Stateside fans prefer? Of Ed Sheeran’s two new songs, released together, his Caribbean-pop-lite “Shape of You” has shot straight to No. 1, giving Sheeran his very first No. 1 song in America. He’d previously come close with “Thinking Out Loud” at No. 2; though, technically, he went No. 1 as a songwriter on Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself.” But unlike in the U.K. and Australia, where his two songs debuted back-to-back at No. 1 and No. 2, there’s a slightly larger gap between them here. The more familiar “Castle on the Hill” has debuted on the Hot 100 at a still-respectable No. 6. So right now all that stands between two more Sheeran megahits are a couple Weeknd songs, the Chainsmokers, “Black Beatles,” and your former reigning No. 1 “Bad and Boujee.” It had a good (albeit brief) run, but nothing can stop the powerful pop pen of Ed Sheeran. Not even Princess Beatrice’s alleged sword.
