Shape of You

"Shape of You"
Single by Ed Sheeran
from the album ÷
Released6 January 2017 (2017-01-06)
Recorded2016
Studio
  • Rokstone (London)
  • Gingerbread Man (Suffolk and London)
Genre
Length3:54[1]
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Ed Sheeran
  • Steve Mac
Ed Sheeran singles chronology
"Lay It All on Me"
(2015)
"Castle on the Hill" / "Shape of You"
(2017)
"Galway Girl"
(2017)
Music video
"Shape of You" on YouTube

"Shape of You" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the double lead singles from his third studio album ÷ (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The Dance Hall & R&B infused song was written by Sheeran, Steve Mac and Johnny McDaid. Due to its interpolation of "No Scrubs" by TLC, Kandi Burruss, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs are also credited as writers. The song was produced by Sheeran and Steve Mac.

"Shape of You" peaked at number one on the singles charts of 34 countries, including the US Billboard Hot 100 — later becoming the best performing song of 2017 — as well as in the British, Australian, Canadian and Irish[2] singles charts. It stayed at number one for a record-tying 16 consecutive weeks on the Canadian Hot 100, as well as 14 nonconsecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and 12 non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also highly successful elsewhere, reaching number one in many European charts and throughout Latin America,[3][4] as well as in Malaysia where it spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at the top.[5]

On 10 December 2018, the song became the first song to hit 2 billion streams on Spotify and is currently the 2nd most streamed song on the platform with 3.6 billion streams, behind "Blinding Lights" by the Weeknd. It was also the most-streamed song of the decade on Spotify with 2.4 billion streams by December 2019, and the most streamed song on Apple Music with 930 million streams, as of May 2023. It was the best-selling song of 2017 and the decade in the UK. "Shape of You" was the best-selling song of 2017 and the second best-selling digital song worldwide, with combined sales and track-equivalent streams of 26.6 million units according to IFPI.[6]

In 2018, it sold an additional 14.9 million copies, combining a total of 41.5 million copies worldwide with the previous total sales figure, making it one of the best selling digital singles of all time. Additionally, it made a second appearance in the Billboard year-end chart in 2018, at No. 71.[7] In 2019, it was named the number-one song on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart of the 2010s decade.[8] "Shape of You" was nominated for British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards.[9] The song won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.[10] In 2021, Billboard ranked "Shape of You" as the tenth most successful song of all time.[11]

  1. ^ "Shape of You". YouTube Music. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference IRE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference MAL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Domingo, Plácido; Moore, Frances (24 April 2018). Global Music Report 2018: Annual State of the Industry (PDF). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Havana by Camila Cabello (featuring Young Thug) named best-selling single of 2018". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. 6 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Year end 2019" (PDF). BdsRadio. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  9. ^ Murray, Robin (13 January 2018). "BRIT Awards 2018: Full Nominations". Clash. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  10. ^ 60th GRAMMY Awards: Full Nominees List Archived 28 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, 28 November 2017
  11. ^ "Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 19 July 2022.