Ed Sheeran's sophomore album X has become the UKs fastest-selling album of the year.X, which is pronounced multiply rather than the letter x, knocked off Lana Del Rey's album Ultraviolence, and has beaten the previous record held by Coldplay.
© Photo: Getty ImagesEd's album sold 182,000 copies since its release on Monday - 14,000 more than Coldplay's Ghost Stories did in May.
One of Taylor Swift's best friends, Ed has become one of the UK's biggest stars, with his set at this weekend's Glastonbury Festival becoming one of the year's most memorable, with the crowd still singing as he left the stage.
The A-Team singer has even found success in America, something many British artists find notoriously difficult, and became Taylor's opening act for the US dates of her Red tour.
The pair have denied any dating rumours, and in 2012 Ed said: "We had great fun when we met, but I don't think I'm Taylor's type."
© Photo: Getty Images"If you look at all the dudes she's dated, they're all tall, brown hair, brown eyes, very attractive and all the girls scream for them. I'm chubby, ginger with blue eyes", he added.
Taylor has previously described Ed as "one of my favourite human beings on the planet", and has spent the last few weeks helping Ed to promote the new album.
She has tweeted words of encouragement to her fans, and posted Instagram snaps to convince her fans to buy the album, including this one which was captioned: "
If you're on the fence about buying Ed Sheeran's new album, X, allow me to convince you with this image"
