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BOYBANDS
Blue
Blue are one of the most successful British bands made up of Antony Costa, Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe. The band have sold over 16 million albums worldwide, their first 3 albums all topped the Official Album Chart and the group have worked with a variety of legends including Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Lil’ Kim. The British four-piece have recently released their latest single 'Haven't Found You Yet' and announced their upcoming album Heart & Soul, released 9/09/2022, and their Anniversary Tour celebrating 20 years since Blue released their smash hit #1 debut album, All Rise.
Westlife
Formed in Sligo, Ireland in 1998, Westlife followed in the tradition of European boy bands like <a href="spotify:artist:1XgFuvRd7r5g0h844A5ZUQ">Take That</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6X9aYHnQ75YI8o08aoa0iS">Boyzone</a>. The group performed ballads and club-worthy pop songs for a devoted European audience, becoming one of the continent's most successful bands in the process. Although they never managed to find American success, Westlife released six platinum-selling records in the U.K. and eventually sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, a feat that helped them eclipse the popularity of pop titans like <a href="spotify:artist:6X9aYHnQ75YI8o08aoa0iS">Boyzone</a>, whose lead singer had managed the band during its infancy. Vocalists <a href="spotify:artist:3Q2ya2vGeOhQ9CaF9wWNP6">Shane Filan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2kSiuXtSywt1IS55rj3zAw">Kian Egan</a>, and Mark Feehily first performed together in another pop group, IOYOU, and experienced their first brush with success when Simon Cowell considered signing them to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BMG%22">BMG</a>. The group's other singers didn't make the cut, however, and a new round of auditions was launched to find more capable members. <a href="spotify:artist:2xNxybZZaSP1YQOKaOH6gA">Nicky Byrne</a> and Bryan McFadden were eventually added, the group was signed, and Westlife began prepping its debut album with the help of Louis Walsh, <a href="spotify:artist:6X9aYHnQ75YI8o08aoa0iS">Boyzone</a>'s manager, and <a href="spotify:artist:6X9aYHnQ75YI8o08aoa0iS">Boyzone</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:3nlHsNqwCSvT988ZfSW1Yh">Ronan Keating</a>. Their debut single, "Flying Without Wings," entered the U.K. charts at number one in 1999, a feat that Westlife replicated one year later with "Seasons in the Sun" and "Swear It Again." All three songs were also released on the group's self-titled debut, which was met with similar success and went platinum in the U.K. An American release followed in early 2000 courtesy of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Arista+Records%22">Arista Records</a>. Westlife never managed to make a dent in America’s pop scene, where national acts like <a href="spotify:artist:5rSXSAkZ67PYJSvpUpkOr7">the Backstreet Boys</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:26dSoYclwsYLMAKD3tpOr4">Britney Spears</a> reigned supreme. It was a different story in the U.K., though, where the group charted 14 number one singles and continued releasing hit albums. Both Coast to Coast and A World of Our Own went multi-platinum, and the group celebrated its success by releasing a hits compilation, Unbreakable, Vol. 1: The Greatest Hits, in 2002. Turnaround followed in 2003 and fared similarly well, but Bryan McFadden nevertheless left the lineup one later year in the hopes of launching his own career. "Real to Me," his first single as a solo artist, topped the charts in 2004. Westlife continued touring after McFadden's exit and released Allow Us to Be Frank, a tribute to <a href="spotify:artist:75kHCUYCZGNvAfSyoEuJTz">the Rat Pack</a>, in late 2004. They returned to their contemporary pop formula with 2005's Face to Face -- their biggest-selling album in three years -- and continued releasing material throughout the rest of the decade, including The Love Album, Back Home, and Where We Are. In November 2010, Westlife released Gravity, their tenth studio album. Following the release of single "Safe," the band announced they would be leaving Simon Cowell's label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Syco%22">Syco</a>. Citing a lack of support from Cowell following <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Syco%22">Syco</a>'s unwillingness to release a second single from Gravity, the group signed a one-album deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA+Records%22">RCA Records</a>. A Greatest Hits album was released a year after Gravity, featuring four new songs that would turn out to be the band's last as they announced their split following a farewell tour. Sold out in minutes, the tour was a huge success, ending in June of 2012 at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland in front of a crowd of over 80,000. Over the next few years, each member focused on his own career and families, taking timeouts, releasing solo albums, and appearing on TV and reality shows. In 2018, after numerous rumors, the group announced that a new album was in the works alongside a tour. Returning to the studio with previous collaborator <a href="spotify:artist:4HQPu8xlD0YTKmUhCsty3a">Steve Mac</a> -- who had also built up a successful songwriting partnership with <a href="spotify:artist:6eUKZXaKkcviH0Ku9w2n3V">Ed Sheeran</a> -- Westlife delivered their 11th studio album, Spectrum, at the end of 2019. The album included collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:4EzkuveR9pLvDVFNx6foYD">James Bay</a> as well as <a href="spotify:artist:6eUKZXaKkcviH0Ku9w2n3V">Sheeran</a> on the singles "Hello My Love" and "Better Man." ~ Andrew Leahey
Backstreet Boys
For 25 years the Backstreet Boys, one of the most successful groups in music history, has delivered the finest pop music one has to offer, making them one of pop’s most influential performers. With countless #1s, record-setting tours, numerous awards and worldwide sales in excess of 130 million, BSB has been recognized as the best-selling boy band in history. On January 25th, 2019 BSB released their new 10th studio album “DNA” on RCA Records. The album features the 2019 GRAMMY nominated Top 10 hit <a href="spotify:album:7vM2i8qUZILFrg03mu3pva" data-name="Don't Go Breaking My Heart">Don't Go Breaking My Heart</a>, plus other singles <a href="spotify:album:1SpYRtc6JW8vWWMgJz4aMF" data-name="Chances">Chances</a> and <a href="spotify:album:2f4X9NdtXsuviPawMTYm1D" data-name="No Place">No Place</a>. On May 11th, 2019 the Backstreet Boys kicked off “The DNA World Tour” - the group’s biggest arena tour in 18 years. On March 1, 2017 Backstreet Boys kicked off their Las Vegas residency “Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life” in The AXIS at Planet Hollywood, which has become one of the fastest-selling shows in Las Vegas history and hosted the biggest audience in the history of Las Vegas headlining residencies Listen to Backstreet Boys – Essentials www.backstreetboys.com
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Justin Bieber
Artist
Taylor Swift
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Charlie Puth
Charlie Puth has proven to be one of the industry’s most consistent hitmakers and sought-after collaborators. Puth has amassed eight multi-platinum singles, four GRAMMY nominations, three Billboard Music Awards, a Critic’s Choice Award, and a Golden Globe nomination. His 2018 GRAMMY-nominated LP, Voicenotes, was RIAA Certified Gold only four days after its release and has logged over 6.7 billion streams worldwide. Recently, Puth released his highly anticipated third studio album CHARLIE via Atlantic Records. Featuring hit singles “Left and Right [feat. Jung Kook of BTS], “That’s Hilarious” and “Light Switch,” the “expertly crafted collection” (ROLLING STONE) has surpassed 2 billion global streams. Following the release of his CHARLIE, Puth set out for his ‘One Night Only’ tour, welcoming fans around the world up close and personal as he shares his latest album and his greatest hits. In 2020, Puth’s collaboration with Gabby Barrett on their “I Hope” Remix earned him his fourth top 10 track on the Billboard Hot 100, hit number one on the Billboard “Adult Pop Songs” chart, and won a 2021 Billboard Music Award for “Top Collaboration.” Puth also co-wrote and produced The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s record-breaking single, “Stay,” which quickly become one of the biggest songs of 2021 and holds the title for the longest-reigning No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and the first to lead it for double-digits - spending a total of eleven weeks at the top of the chart.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomena: a superstar who managed to completely cross over from country to the mainstream. Others have performed similar moves -- notably, <a href="spotify:artist:32vWCbZh0xZ4o9gkz4PsEU">Dolly Parton</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5W5bDNCqJ1jbCgTxDD0Cb3">Willie Nelson</a> both became enduring pop culture icons based on their 1970s work -- but Swift shed her country roots like they were a second skin; it was a necessary molting to reveal she was perhaps the sharpest, savviest populist singer/songwriter of her generation, one who could harness the zeitgeist, make it personal and, just as impressively, perform the reverse. These skills were evident on her earliest hits, especially the neo-tribute "Tim McGraw," but her second album, 2008's Fearless, showcased a songwriter discovering who she was and, in the process, finding a mass audience. Fearless wound up having considerable legs not only in the U.S., where it racked up six platinum singles on the strength of the Top Ten hits "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me," but throughout the world, performing particularly well in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Speak Now, delivered almost two years later, consolidated that success and moved Swift into the stratosphere of superstardom. Her popularity only increased over her next three albums -- Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017) -- and found her moving assuredly into a pop realm where she already belonged. Even when she scaled back her approach with 2020's stripped-down sibling releases folklore and Evermore, she remained atop the pop world, a position she maintained with re-recordings of her back catalog along with Midnights, a moody album released in 2022. This sense of confidence had been apparent in Taylor Swift since the beginning. The daughter of two bankers -- her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, worked at Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea, spent time as a mutual fund marketing executive -- Swift was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and raised in suburban Wyomissing. She began to show interest in music at the age of nine, and <a href="spotify:artist:5e4Dhzv426EvQe3aDb64jL">Shania Twain</a> wound up as her biggest formative influence. Swift started to work regularly at local talent contests, eventually winning a chance to open for <a href="spotify:artist:6UpFUXmXvDV7Qj1SPymamh">Charlie Daniels</a>. Soon, she learned how to play guitar and began writing songs, signing a music management deal with Dan Dymtrow; her family relocated to Nashville with the intent of furthering her music career. She was just 14 years old but on the radar of the music industry, signing a development deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA+Records%22">RCA Records</a> in 2004. Swift sharpened her skills with a variety of professional songwriters, forming the strongest connections with <a href="spotify:artist:7pcKyVIatvXoHdZRr4Q3vT">Liz Rose</a>. Taylor's original songs earned her a deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, but not long after that 2004 deal she parted ways with Dymtrow and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a>, all with the intent of launching her recording career now, not later. Things started moving swiftly once Swift came to the attention of Scott Borchetta, a former <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DreamWorks+Records%22">DreamWorks Records</a> exec about to launch <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Machine+Records%22">Big Machine Records</a>. Borchetta saw Swift perform at a songwriters showcase at the Bluebird Cafe and he signed her to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Machine%22">Big Machine</a> in 2005; shortly afterward, she started work on her debut with producer Nathan Chapman, who'd previously helmed demos for Taylor. Boasting original song credits on every one of the record's 11 songs (she penned three on her own), Taylor Swift appeared in October 2006 to strong reviews and Swift made sure to work the album hard, appearing at every radio or television event offered and marshaling a burgeoning fan base through the use of MySpace. "Tim McGraw," the first song from the album, did well, but "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Our Song" did better on both the pop and country charts, where she racked up five consecutive Top Ten singles. Other successes followed in the wake of the debut -- a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist (she lost to <a href="spotify:artist:6Q192DXotxtaysaqNPy5yR">Amy Winehouse</a>), stopgap EPs of Christmas songs -- but Swift concentrated on delivering her sophomore set, Fearless. Appearing in November 2008, Fearless was certified gold by the RIAA in its first week of release, and the record gained momentum throughout 2009, earning several platinum certifications as "Love Story," "White Horse," "You Belong with Me," "Fifteen," and "Fearless" all scaled the upper reaches of the country charts while "You Belong with Me" nearly topped Billboard's Hot 100. Along with the success came some headlines, first in the form of an infamous appearance at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards where her acceptance speech was interrupted by <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a>, who burst on-stage to declare that Swift's rival <a href="spotify:artist:6vWDO969PvNqNYHIOW5v0m">Beyoncé</a> deserved the award more, but her romances also started gaining attention, notably a liaison with Twilight star Taylor Lautner, who appeared with the singer in the 2009 film Valentine's Day. Her flirtation with the silver screen proved brief, as she then poured herself into her third album, Speak Now. Released in October 2010, Speak Now was another massive first-week smash that refused to lose momentum. Hit singles like "Mine" and "Mean," which won two Grammy Awards, played a big factor in its success not just on the country charts but on pop radio as well. Following a 2011 live album called World Tour Live: Speak Now, Swift turned toward following a pop path on her fourth album, hiring such mainstream musicians as <a href="spotify:artist:045EiHd7X7cCjlamF0LV2M">Dan Wilson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7qKoy46vPnmIxKCN6ewBG4">Butch Walker</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:26dSoYclwsYLMAKD3tpOr4">Britney Spears</a> producer <a href="spotify:artist:4e1KgW8FCqVytLFSzEYEKo">Max Martin</a>. This mainstream pulse was evident on "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," the first single from Red. Upon its October 2012 release, Red shattered expectations by selling over a million copies in its first week, a notable achievement that was doubly impressive in an era of declining sales. Once again, Swift's album had legs: it was certified platinum four times in the U.S. and its international sales outstripped those of Speak Now. She supported Red with an international tour in 2013 and more hits came, including "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "22." As Swift geared up for the release of her fifth album in 2014, she made it clear that 1989 was designed as her first "documented, official" pop album and that there would be no country marketing push for the record. "Shake It Off," an ebullient dance-pop throwback, hit number one upon its August 2014 release. When 1989 appeared in late October 2014, it once again shot to number one and became her third straight album to sell one million copies in its first week (a new record for any artist). Swift gathered many awards during the subsequent year, including Billboard's Woman of the Year, the Award for Excellence at the American Music Awards, and a special 50th Anniversary Milestone Award from the CMAs. Her 1989 World Tour crossed Asia, North America, and Europe during the last half of 2015, and she won three Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremonies, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Music Video for "Bad Blood." At the end of 2016, she released "I Don't Wanna Live Forever," a duet with ZAYN from the soundtrack for Fifty Shades Darker. The single reached the Top Five across the world. Swift returned with her sixth album, Reputation, in November 2017. Preceded by the number one hit single "Look What You Made Me Do," Reputation debuted at number one, and while it didn't replicate the success of 1989, the album did help underscore her popularity while also pushing her toward mature musicality. Reputation was Swift's final record for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Machine%22">Big Machine</a>. In November 2018, she signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Universal+Music+Group%22">Universal Music Group</a>, which distributed her new albums under its <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Republic+Records%22">Republic Records</a> banner. The first album in this contract was Lover. Released in August 2019, Lover was preceded by two singles, "Me!" and "You Need to Calm Down," which both reached number two on the Hot 100 and helped push the album to number one. The acclaimed LP and two of its singles received a total of three nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards. Swift's plans to support Lover with a tour in 2020 were scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With some unexpected time on her hands, she wrote and recorded a new set of songs, many in collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:2hSyEBc9TBb9j38FOCdkIf">Aaron Dessner</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:2cCUtGK9sDU2EoElnk0GNB">the National</a>; <a href="spotify:artist:4LEiUm1SRbFMgfqnQTwUbQ">Bon Iver</a> and longtime Swift associate <a href="spotify:artist:414TS3VqZf1XPCBixdmX9n">Jack Antonoff</a> also contributed. The resulting album, folklore, was released on July 24, 2020, and went straight to the top of the Billboard 200. Less than five months later, Swift released a companion album to folklore called Evermore. Featuring many of the same collaborators as its predecessor, the Grammy-nominated Evermore debuted at number one upon its December 11, 2020 release. Altogether, the sibling LPs planted Swift atop the U.S. charts for a combined 11 weeks, and folklore became the best-selling album of 2020. In 2021, she began the process of re-recording her back catalog after her <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Machine%22">Big Machine</a> masters were sold off in 2019, starting with 2008's Fearless. The first of these tracks -- "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" -- arrived that February, with Fearless [Taylor's Version] arriving in April. The new version of Fearless contained cameos from <a href="spotify:artist:6aZyMrc4doVtZyKNilOmwu">Colbie Caillat</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0u2FHSq3ln94y5Q57xazwf">Keith Urban</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6WY7D3jk8zTrHtmkqqo5GI">Maren Morris</a>, along with several previously unheard tunes originally written during the same time period; it debuted at number one on Billboard upon its release. Swift next revisited Red, releasing Red [Taylor's Version] in November 2021. This revamp of the 2012 album featured new duets with <a href="spotify:artist:1r1uxoy19fzMxunt3ONAkG">Phoebe Bridgers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4YLtscXsxbVgi031ovDDdh">Chris Stapleton</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6eUKZXaKkcviH0Ku9w2n3V">Ed Sheeran</a>, along with a ten-minute version of the ballad "All Too Well." Another re-recording, "This Love (Taylor's Version)" (originally off 1989), arrived in May 2022 and was included in the soundtrack to the coming-of-age drama The Summer I Turned Pretty. Swift opened up another chapter in her career with the October 2022 release of Midnights, an album co-produced by <a href="spotify:artist:414TS3VqZf1XPCBixdmX9n">Jack Antonoff</a> and featuring a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:00FQb4jTyendYWaN8pK0wa">Lana Del Rey</a> on "Snow on the Beach." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ed Sheeran
Idiosyncratic pop singer Ed Sheeran borrows from any style that crosses his path, molding genres to fit a musical character all his own that's charming, personable, and popular on a global scale. Elements of folk, hip-hop, pop, dance, soul, and rock can be heard in his big hits "The A Team," "Sing," "Thinking Out Loud," and "Shape of You" -- which gives him a broad appeal among different demographics. It also helped elevate him to international acclaim not long after the release of his 2011 debut LP, +, and took 2014's x and 2017's ÷ to the top of both the U.K. albums chart and the Billboard 200. Sheeran maintained his stardom with savvy collaborations -- his 2019 album No. 6 Collaborations Project featured an eclectic roster including <a href="spotify:artist:6LuN9FCkKOj5PcnpouEgny">Khalid</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4nDoRrQiYLoBzwC5BhVJzF">Camila Cabello</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4kYSro6naA4h99UJvo89HB">Cardi B</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1uNFoZAHBGtllmzznpCI3s">Justin Bieber</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4YLtscXsxbVgi031ovDDdh">Chris Stapleton</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0du5cEVh5yTK9QJze8zA0C">Bruno Mars</a> -- and by continuing to write candidly about his life: his 2021 album = was filled with songs about being a new father. Sheeran's musical explorations continued on -, a 2023 album that featured several tracks co-written and co-produced by <a href="spotify:artist:2hSyEBc9TBb9j38FOCdkIf">Aaron Dessner</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:2cCUtGK9sDU2EoElnk0GNB">the National</a>, and its swiftly released companion Autumn Variations. When Ed Sheeran released +, he had just turned 20. He had been playing music since he was a child in Framlingham, Suffolk -- he was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire but his family moved when he was young -- enthralled by the classic rock he heard around the house. Sheeran started writing music in his early teens, recording a self-made album called Spinning Man when he was 13 in 2004. In addition to making music at home -- he put out an EP titled The Orange Room in 2005 -- he'd busk on the streets and play whatever stage he could find. When he was 16, he dropped out of school and moved to London so he could make a go of a professional career, landing work as a guitar tech for Nizlopi, gigging whenever he could, and auditioning unsuccessfully for the ITV series Britannia High. The self-released EP You Need Me arrived in 2009 -- it followed 2006's eponymous EP and 2007's Want Some? -- but his momentum started to build in 2010 thanks to the EPs Loose Change and Songs I Wrote with Amy and, especially, performance videos he posted to YouTube. Sheeran started to generate considerable buzz -- <a href="spotify:artist:7LnaAXbDVIL75IVPnndf7w">Jamie Foxx</a> invited him to appear on his Sirius/XM radio show -- and he landed a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Asylum+Records%22">Asylum Records</a> in late 2010. After a final independent EP, No. 5 Collaborations, arrived in January 2011, he signed a contract with <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>'s management team. All of this laid the groundwork for a busy 2011. Sheeran entered the studio with <a href="spotify:artist:20twLKFb2Nhd8duUH0k2DJ">Jake Gosling</a> to record his major-label debut. Its first single, "The A Team," arrived in June 2011, entering the charts at number three. August brought "You Need Me, I Don't Need You," setting the stage for the September release of +. Assisted by the success of November's single "Lego House," the record became a huge hit in the U.K., a fact underscored by his win of British Breakthrough in the 2012 Brit Awards. Sheeran's success soon spread to Australia, Europe, Canada, and then the United States. He received a boost in the U.S. by opening for <a href="spotify:artist:3rIZMv9rysU7JkLzEaC5Jp">Snow Patrol</a> in 2012, but that paled in comparison to the exposure he received opening for <a href="spotify:artist:06HL4z0CvFAxyc27GXpf02">Taylor Swift</a> on her Red tour in 2013. His endorsement from <a href="spotify:artist:06HL4z0CvFAxyc27GXpf02">Swift</a>, combined with his landing of the closing credits song "I See Fire" for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, set Sheeran up for an eventful 2014. Along with reuniting with <a href="spotify:artist:20twLKFb2Nhd8duUH0k2DJ">Jake Gosling</a>, Sheeran worked with <a href="spotify:artist:1EpmQFTiJbcxzwbLpuUL8L">Rick Rubin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2RdwBSPQiwcmiDo9kixcl8">Pharrell</a> for X, the sophomore set that arrived in June 2014. X debuted at number one on both sides of the Atlantic and generated the huge hits "Thinking Out Loud" and "Sing," success that helped Sheeran secure a win for Album of the Year in the 2015 Brit Awards, along with the trophy for Best Male Solo Artist. His success wasn't limited to Britain. X was the second biggest-selling album in the world in 2015, coming in behind <a href="spotify:artist:4dpARuHxo51G3z768sgnrY">Adele</a>'s 25, and "Thinking Out Loud" took home the Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance in 2016. Sheeran spent the majority of 2016 recuperating and recording his third album with executive producer <a href="spotify:artist:5CiGnKThu5ctn9pBxv7DGa">Benny Blanco</a>. Early in 2017, he released two singles, "Castle on the Hill" and "Shape of You," with the latter reaching number one on the charts throughout the world. Their parent album, ÷, appeared in March. ÷ topped the pop charts in over 20 territories, including the U.K. and U.S., and it generated another international hit in "Galway Girl." Ed Sheeran's massive popularity was confirmed in June 2017, when he was awarded an MBE on the occasion of the Queen's Birthday Honours. Over the next year, Sheeran stayed busy touring. He also picked up several more accolades including winning the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for ÷ and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Shape of You." In 2019, he paired with <a href="spotify:artist:1uNFoZAHBGtllmzznpCI3s">Justin Bieber</a> for the single "I Don't Care." It was the first of a series of duets which Sheeran collected on No. 6 Collaborations Project. The album appeared on July 12, 2019 and topped numerous charts just a few weeks after the release of Yesterday, a Danny Boyle film set in an alternate world where <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> never existed that featured Sheeran in a pivotal role. No. 6 Collaborations Project went on to be nominated for a Grammy in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. In December 2020, Sheeran offered up the acoustic non-album single, "Afterglow" as a Christmas gift to his fans. Sheeran returned with "Bad Habits" in June 2021; the single topped the charts in nearly every country, save the U.S., where it peaked at two. The track was the first single from his fifth album, =. Arriving in October 2021, the record found Sheeran grappling with fatherhood and featured songwriting collaborations from <a href="spotify:artist:4bUqnkrDrb4f7rqmDR9yDu">Foy Vance</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7bhMBjjQhgPX0q9S4Ajncn">Ben Kweller</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:32opPqLCT3sF24Aso7wTXw">Natalie Hemby</a>, among others. It continued Sheeran's streak of number one albums in the U.K. and was equally successful internationally. That December, he joined <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a> for the holiday song "Merry Christmas," which topped the U.K. singles chart and Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The single was also included on a Christmas edition of =, as well as <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">John</a>'s The Lockdown Sessions. Sheeran then collaborated with Colombian singer <a href="spotify:artist:1vyhD5VmyZ7KMfW5gqLgo5">J Balvin</a> on 2021's "Sigue" and 2022's "Forever My Love." Also in 2022, he scored a Top Ten U.K. hit with the Pokémon-related "Celestial" before kicking off 2023 with "F64," a heartfelt tribute to the late British music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards. Sheeran launched the cycle for his fifth album in early 2023 with the release of the singles "Eyes Closed" and "Boat." Both songs were included on -, a record that featured several collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:2hSyEBc9TBb9j38FOCdkIf">Aaron Dessner</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:2cCUtGK9sDU2EoElnk0GNB">the National</a>, along with work by <a href="spotify:artist:1rjeVTt9Ra1ldvN7SpeK0G">Max Martin</a>, Shellback, and <a href="spotify:artist:4bUqnkrDrb4f7rqmDR9yDu">Foy Vance</a>. Four months after - debuted at number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S., Sheeran released Autumn Variations, an album recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:2hSyEBc9TBb9j38FOCdkIf">Dessner</a> as producer. - earned a Best Pop Vocal Album nomination at the 66th Grammy Awards. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
