Edward Christopher Sheeran, MBE (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (pronounced "plus"), was released in September 2011. It topped the UK and Australian charts, reached number five in the US, and has since been certified eight-times platinum in the UK.
The album contains the single "The A Team", which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John.
Elton John wants to see new blood on the Official Albums Chart: "Why aren't good new albums in there? Because of people like me!"
officialcharts.comElton John has opened up about the resurgence of legacy arts on the Official Charts over the past year, and admitted he would like to see some new blood re-enter the charts.
Elton had a magnificent 2021, scoring three UK Number 1 singles within the space of the year, one of them being the iconic Official Christmas Number 1 with Ed Sheeran and LadBaby thanks to Sausage Rolls For Everyone.
But the living legend - who became the only act to achieve Top 10 singles across six consecutive decades of their career last year - admits that it may be time for the old guard to stand down. "It's lovely to see Kate Bush at Number 1," Elton told Music Week, referencing Kate's recent record-breaking ascent to the top of the Official Singles Chart with Running Up That Hill. "But there's not many good records in the Top 20, and the [Official Albums Chart] is full of thing like me, ABBA and Queen." Elton has long been a champion of new artists, in recent years he's helped guide the careers of acts like Dua Lipa, Rina Sawayama and Sam Fender...and he certainly has some ideas of which artists should be enjoying similar kinds of success as he is in the twilight years of his career. "There are a lot of good albums that deserve to be [topping the Official Albums Chart]," he continued, "like Juanita Euka, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen.
What I want to know is why aren’t they there? Because of people like me!” One thing Elton is certainly right about is that people "like him" - chart legacy acts who have been popular across generations and various decades - are still as successful as ever in the UK.
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