Ed Sheeran's “Divide” now one of the UK's top albums of the millennium

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Atlantic RecordsIt only came out 14 months ago, but Ed Sheeran‘s Divide has sold so many copies, it already ranks among the best-selling albums of the millennium in his native U.K.

According to Britain’s Official Charts Company, Divide has now sold just over three million units in the U.K.  That makes it the 11th-biggest album of the millennium. The biggest-selling album of the millennium overall is Adele‘s 21, with just over five million units sold in the U.K. since its release in 2011.

When Divide was first released, it became the U.K.’s fastest-selling album by a solo male artist and has never left the top 10.  It’s also spun off more top-10 singles than any other studio album in U.K. chart history.

Ed responded to the news by writing on Instagram,Divide went 10 times Platinum today in the U.K. it’s almost overtaken Multiply which I didn’t think could happen. Thanks for all the continued support.”

In the U.K., an album only has to sell 300,000 units to go platinum, as opposed to the U.S., where a platinum certification requires sales of a million units.  So as Ed notes, “10 times platinum” in the U.K. means the disc has sold three million copies.  Globally, of course, the album has sold much more than that.

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