Ed Sheeran celebrates Spotify milestone of 100 million followers

Ed Sheeran's team appeared comically uninterested in his latest achievement. Photo / Getty Images

Ed Sheeran has become the first ever artist to hit 100 million followers on Spotify.

The 'Bad Habits' hitmaker is nearly 20 million followers ahead of anybody else as runner-up Ariana Grande has 81.64 million followers on the streaming platform.

The top 10 most followed list features other top music stars such as Drake, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. Sheeran was also the first artist to hit 50 million followers on the platform and has almost 60 million more followers than fellow music mega star Adele.

Sheeran took to Instagram to celebrate the milestone and posted a video of himself wearing a T-shirt sent from Spotify in honour of his achievement.

The T-shirt reads 'ASK ME ABOUT MY 100 MILLION SPOTIFY FOLLOWERS' and Sheeran jokingly asks members of his touring team what they make of his milestone.

His team appear comically uninterested but Ed's touring support act Maisie Peters congratulates the 'Shivers' singer with a hug.

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The achievement is the latest musical accolade for Sheeran as it was revealed last month that he was the most-played artist in the UK in 2021 while 'Bad Habits' was the most-played single.

Sheeran, 31, became the first artist to claim both titles in two separate years as he achieved the same feat in 2017 with his hit record 'Shape of You' from the album 'Divide'.

Peter Leathem, chief executive of data compilers Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL), said: "Congratulations to Ed Sheeran for having the UK's most-played track of 2021 and being the UK's most-played artist of 2021.

"His chart-topping success over the last five years is a testament to not only the quality of his output but also the strength of UK music at a time when the global music landscape is more competitive than ever."