It’s not every day Ed Sheeran gets knocked from his chart-making perch, but Scotland’s anti-pop star Lewis Capaldi has now done just that, according to data from the Official Charts Company.
That’s because Capaldi’s ‘Someone You Loved’ has now amassed 562 million streams (UK audio and video streams combined), overtaking Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’.
Along with another of Sheeran’s tracks, ‘Perfect’, they are the only tracks to have surpassed the 500 million stream mark in the UK – and make up only seven tracks that have topped the 400 million mark.
just heard that ‘someone you loved’ is officially the MOST STREAMED SONG of ALL TIME in the UK!!!!! 🎉 Will never cease to amaze me, thanks so much team!!! 👑❤️ x pic.twitter.com/ADudOvivha
— Lewis Capaldi (@LewisCapaldi) November 14, 2022
Speaking to the Official Charts Company, Capaldi declared in a typically jokey fashion: “I’m the streaming king! In the UK! On this particular song! I feel huge, I feel massive, I feel my loins expanding as I become more and more aware of the reality of my coronation as the king of music.
“Thank you. A very large accolade that I will now shoulder for the rest of my life… or until Ed Sheeran releases his next album.”
Speaking to other music titans to have held the accolade, Capaldi added: “Listen…The Beatles, Drake, Metallica, The Eagles, Michael Jackson, don’t worry guys, no hard feelings, I just had to take this one. Take a step back and let Daddy steer the ship now, ok?”
The announcement comes on the 70th anniversary of the Official UK Singles Charts. A total of 4.55 billion singles, 683 billion audio streams and 128 billion video streams have reportedly been consumed in the UK within those seven decades.
Capaldi’s ‘Someone You Loved’ has now overtaking Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ for number of UK streams.
1,404 songs have reached number one within that timeframe, with Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’ (taken from her latest album Midnights, which has also set a number of records on its own, including best-selling record of the year) currently sitting at the top of the pile.
In the UK, though, Capaldi is now sitting pretty as ‘the king of streaming’.
