Ed Sheeran has won the award for best British male solo artist at this year’s Brit awards, held at London’s O2 Arena on 25 February. Dedicating his award to his TV plugger Deirdre, the pop singer, guitarist and songwriter outdid fellow nominees George Ezra, Damon Albarn, Sam Smith and Paolo Nutini to take home the award.
Sheeran has enjoyed a year of mammoth commercial success. His second album, X, was released in June 2014 and went on to sell 1.7m copies in the UK – it was not only the bestselling and fastest-selling album of the year, but also shifted about 1m more copies than 2013’s bestseller, Midnight Memories by One Direction.
Sheeran was at the top of the UK’s album chart for 12 consecutive weeks and was named the most-streamed artist worldwide in 2014. Hit singles Sing, featuring Pharrell Williams, and Thinking Out Loud, helped boost Sheeran’s profile last year, making him an almost inescapable presence in pop music.
On the morning of the Brit awards, Sheeran spoke on radio station Capital FM’s Breakfast Show about his preference for performing over receiving industry accolades.
“Performing for me is the bit I really enjoy,” he said, in an interview with DJs Lisa Snowdon and Dave Berry. “The bit I hate is sitting there, waiting to see whether you’ve got validation by the industry that you fund. That’s what I don’t like.”
Previously, Sheeran earned Brit award nominations and wins in 2012. That year, he walked away with best British breakthrough act and best British male solo artist, and also got nominations for best British single, for The A Team, and British album of the year for his debut, +.
