studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the lead single, double lead singles from his third studio album ''÷ (album), ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The Dancehall pop, ...

Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongch ...

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentBe Here Now''. "Divide" topped the charts in over 25 territories across the globe, including the United States, Canada, and Australia. In April 2018, the

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...

named ''÷'' the best-selling album worldwide of the year. In October 2019, it was ranked the fifth best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK. All the tracks on the album reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart in the week of the album's release. The dominance of its tracks on the UK chart led to calls for change on how the single chart is compiled, and the

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

then introduced new rules limiting tracks eligible for entry in the top 100 to three per the main artist, as well as adjusting the streams-to-sales ratio for older songs. His fourth single from ''÷'', " Perfect", reached number one in the US, Australia and the UK, where it became the Christmas number one of 2017. To promote the album, Sheeran embarked on a worldwide concert tour, entitled the

÷ Tour The ÷ Tour (pronounced the "Divide Tour") was the third world concert tour by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, in support of his third studio album, '' ÷'' (2017) (pronounced "divide"). Comprising 260 shows, it officially began on 16 Marc ...

. Comprising 260 shows, it started on 16 March 2017 and ended on 26 August 2019 with the last of four homecoming gigs in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, Suffolk. By August 2019, it had become the biggest, most attended, and highest-grossing tour of all time.

Background

On 13 December 2015, Sheeran announced a self-imposed hiatus from social media, commenting that he found himself "seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes." He further ensured that some of this time would be spent creating his third album, which he considered "the best thing I have made thus far." Exactly one year after this announcement, on 13 December 2016, Sheeran's various social media platforms posted pictures of a blank blue square to state his imminent return to music. On 1 January 2017, Sheeran officially ended his hiatus by announcing that "new music" would be released on 6 January. On 12 January 2017, Sheeran revealed the tracklist and the release date for the album with its pre-order.

Release

''÷'' was released on 3 March 2017 through

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

. Worldwide, on the day of its release, the tracks of the album achieved a total of 56.73 million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

in a single day, breaking the previous record of 29 million for '' Starboy'' by

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

in November 2016. In total, all tracks by Sheeran were streamed 68.7 million times that day, with the single "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the lead single, double lead singles from his third studio album ''÷ (album), ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The Dancehall pop, ...

" receiving 10.12 million streams, both also breaking previous records on Spotify. Both records were broken by

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

's ''

More Life ''More Life'' is the fifth commercial mixtape by Canadian rapper Drake. Described and marketed as a playlist, some publications have referred to it as a mixtape. It was released on March 18, 2017, through Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Rec ...

'' 16 days later. By its second day of release, the videos of songs from the album had achieved a cumulative one billion views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, including figures from "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill" released earlier.

Singles

" Castle on the Hill" and "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the lead single, double lead singles from his third studio album ''÷ (album), ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The Dancehall pop, ...

", the album's lead singles, were issued on 6 January 2017. Sheeran teased the tracks on social media during the week leading up to their release, posting instrumental extracts and each song's opening lyric. " Galway Girl" was announced as the third single via Sheeran's Twitter on 17 March 2017. It was added to

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

's playlist the following day (18 March 2017). On 21 August 2017, ''Billboard'' announced that " Perfect" would be the fourth single from the album. The song was sent to top 40 radio on 26 September 2017. " Happier" was released on 27 April 2018 as the album's fifth and final single in Italy.

Promotional singles

" How Would You Feel (Paean)" was released on 17 February 2017 as a promotional single with its pre-order. An extended live acoustic version of "

Eraser An eraser (also known as a rubber in some Commonwealth countries, including South Africa from which the material first used got its name) is an article of stationery that is used for removing marks from paper or skin (e.g. parchment or vellu ...

" debuted on the SB.TV

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on 28 February 2017; marking the 10th anniversary of SB.TV's involvement with YouTube, and the seventh anniversary of Sheeran's YouTube involvement with SB.TV. " Supermarket Flowers" was released as a promotional single following Sheeran's performance at the 2018 Brit Awards.

Critical reception

The album has been given a

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

score of 62 based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Maura Johnston Maura K. Johnston (born May 28, 1975) is a writer, editor and music critic. A member of Boston College's journalism faculty, she has written for ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Boston Globe'', ''Pitchfork'', ''The Awl'', ''The New York Times'', ''Spin' ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' gave a four-star review, commenting that "Ed is still showcasing pop savvy on Divide" and going on to say that he "doubles down on the blend of hip-hop bravado and everyday-bloke songwriting that helped him break out at the turn of the decade." Roisin O'Connor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' also gave the album a four-star rating, claiming " he albumleans on little asides from Sheeran's own talent" and that it was "astonishing for its sheer ambition alone". Jordan Bassett of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' described the album as "a collection that, somehow, adheres to his perfect pop template... while also being quietly weird", and that the album is "likeable", "assured but unassuming and sometimes hard to fathom". Mark Kennedy of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, after commenting on the album's "missteps", said that it "is certain to add listeners, subtract a few weary of his inconsistency, but definitely multiply his bank account", and ultimately called Sheeran "a special talent". Some reviews were unfavourable; Harriet Gibsone of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the album a two-star rating out of five, calling it "no less calculating than his peers at the very top level of pop stardom". In a negative review of 2.8 out of 10, Laura Snapes of ''Pitchfork'' stated: "considering he heeranis among the most successful songwriters in the world, a lot of his lyrics do not even scan." In another negative review, writing for '' Drowned in Sound'', David Hillier gave ''÷'' a 3/10 rating, calling it "the most anodyne and bland pop album possible."

Commercial performance

United Kingdom

The album sold 232,000 physical and digital copies in the UK on its first day of release without the inclusion of streaming data, more than the sales of Sheeran's previous album '' x'' in its first week. In its three days, the album continued to increase in sales and sold over 432,000 copies, thereby topping the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

with just three days of availability. The album sold 63% in physical format, 31% in digital, and 6% in streaming equivalent sales. The album sold a total of 672,000 copies in the UK during its first week, making it the nation's fastest-selling album by a male artist and the third highest opening overall behind

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

's '' 25'' (which sold 800,307 copies in its first week) and

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentBe Here Now'' (which sold 696,000 copies in its first week). In ''÷'' opening week, Sheeran had his first three albums chart in the top five in the UK. Additionally, it broke the record for the most top 10 songs from a single album on the UK Singles Chart (with nine songs in the top 10 in a single week as well), surpassing a record previously held by

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...

. All 16 songs from the album also entered the top 20. The album reached one million sales in the UK after just 16 days. In the first half of 2017, the album pushed UK music sales up by 11.2% compared to previous year, and it was the best-selling entertainment product of year, ahead of film releases such as '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story''. By July 2017, the album had sold over 2 million units in the UK—1.22 million of these from physical sales and 371,000 copies from downloads, with streaming contributing 415,000 equivalent units. It has since topped the UK Albums Chart for a total of 20 non-consecutive weeks, the longest amount of time since Adele's '' 21'' held the summit in 2011 and 2012. ''÷'' was the nation's highest selling album of the year with over 2,128,000 copies sold by the end of 2017. Ed Sheehan - Divide Tour

The large number of tracks from the album on the UK Singles Chart led to calls to reconsider how the charts are compiled. In response to the controversy and to help new artists on the chart, the

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

introduced rules limiting the number of tracks by a lead artist eligible for entry in the top 100 to three, to be introduced for charts published starting 7 July 2017. It also adjusted the streams-to-sales ratio for older tracks that had declined for three consecutive weeks or any record that had charted for ten weeks to accelerate removal of existing songs. On 9 August 2019, "

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

" was certified platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

, despite not being released as a single.

United States

''÷'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 451,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

s, of which 322,000 were pure album sales. The tracks collectively achieved 134.6 million streams in the United States in the album's first week of availability. Ten songs from the album also debuted on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

the same week, joining the three songs already on the chart, including "Shape of You" in its seventh week at number one. In its second week, it stayed on top of ''Billboard'' 200 with 180,000 units (87,000 copies sold), which qualified it for a Gold certification from the RIAA on 22 March 2017. By July 2017, tracks from the album had accumulated over one billion audio streams in the US. ''÷'' earned 2,764,000 album-equivalent units in the US throughout 2017, finishing as the year's best-selling album in the country, and was its second highest-selling album in pure copies, with 1,102,000 copies sold, behind

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's ''

Reputation The reputation or prestige of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity – typically developed as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance. ...

''.

Other markets

In Ireland, ''÷'' opened at number one as fastest-selling album of the decade with 27,600 units (including 21,300 copies), just 2,300 units below the two-times platinum certification disc. All three of Sheeran's albums were in the top five. Furthermore, the entire top 16 of the Irish Singles Chart consisted only of songs from the album. In Australia, the album opened at number one with a double Platinum certification in its first week, selling 97,014 copies. Sheeran also achieved a record with 18 songs in the Australian top 40 in the same week—16 from the album and two from Sheeran's other albums, which were also in the top five of the albums chart. It has since held the nation's summit a total of 25 non-consecutive weeks, the ninth longest total time spent there. ''÷'' was Australia's highest selling album of 2017 with more than 420,000 copies sold throughout the year. He also topped the charts in the Belgian region of Flanders, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. In all, it opened at number one in over 14 countries, including 10 European nations. It started at number two in France, selling 40,900 copies. After five months of availability, it was certified three-times platinum there, amounting to 300,000 units (sales and streaming). As of December 2017, it exceeds 334,000 sales in France. By the end of 2017, 387,000 units (physical and downloads) had been sold in France according to Pure Charts. It was ranked second on the year-end album sales chart. It received a diamond certification disc nine months after it was released, due to selling 566,492 units (with streaming). It was ranked first on the year-end album chart (including streaming). As of April 2018, it has sold 600,000 units (including streaming) in France. As of March 2018, the album has stayed at the top of the Danish Albums Chart for 36 non-consecutive weeks, becoming the album with most weeks at number one in Denmark (since

IFPI Denmark IFPI Denmark is the Danish branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwi ...

and Nielsen started tracking sales in 1993).

Worldwide

''÷'' was the best selling album globally of 2017, with 6.1 million copies worldwide according to the

IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...

and selling 1.3 million copies in pure sales in 2018.

Track listing

Notes * "Shape of You" interpolates " No Scrubs" by

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic and album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

. *

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

– lead vocals , guitars , backing vocals , mandolin , bass , percussion , acoustic guitar cello , drums , body percussion , beatbox *

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall ...

– programming and keyboards , backing vocals *

Leo Abrahams Leo Matthew Abrahams (born 28 November 1977) is an English musician, composer and producer. He has collaborated with Brian Eno, Katie Melua, Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barât, Regina Spektor, Jon Hopkins and Paul Simon. After attending th ...

– guitar * Laurie Anderson –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

* Thomas Bartlett – keyboard and piano * Fenella Barton – violin II * Leon Bosch – double bass * Liam Bradley – piano , backing vocals , percussion * Karl Brazil – drums * Aoife Burke – cello * Archie Carter – backing vocals * Nick Cartledge – flute and piccolo * Meghan Cassidy – viola * Eric Clapton (as Angelo Mysterioso) – guitar solo * Travis Cole – backing vocals * Nick Cooper – cello , orchestra leader * Billy Cummings – backing vocals * Murray Cummings – backing vocals * Mandhira De Saram – violin I * Matthew Denton – violin I * James Dickenson – violin II * Alison Dods – violin II * Niamh Dunne –

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

and backing vocals , percussion * Mike Elizondo – drum programming, synthesizer bass, piano, and keyboards * DJ Final – scratches *

Brian Finnegan Brian Finnegan (born 20 August 1969) is an Irish flute and tin whistle player from Armagh. Finnegan began playing whistle at age 8 and flute at age 10 as a student of the Armagh Pipers Club under the tuition of the Vallely family. He first cam ...

– tin whistle * Nicole Fischer – viola * Geo Gabriel – backing vocals * Oscar Golding – bass * Sean Graham –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and backing vocals , percussion * Laurence Love Greed – piano * Charys Green – clarinet * Peter Gregson – cello , conductor * Ian Hendrickson-Smith – saxophone * Wayne Hernandez – backing vocals * Will Hicks – electric guitar, percussion, and programming * Martyn Jackson – violin I * Katherine Jenkinson – cello * Magnus Johnston – violin I * Marije Johnston – violin I * Simon Hewitt Jones – violin I * Patrick Kiernan – violin I *

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Labrinth signed as a recording artist with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music in 2010, ini ...

– piano * Trevor Lawrence Jr. – drums * Chris Laws – drums * Jay Lewis – drums * Tim Lowe – cello *

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern Briti ...

– keyboards * Ammar Malik – backing vocals * Kirsty Mangan – violin II *

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

– electric guitar solo * Joe McCann – backing vocals * Johnny McDaid – guitar , acoustic guitar , keyboards , piano , programming , backing vocals * Damian McKee –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and backing vocals , percussion * Lisanne Melchoir – viola * Jeremy Morris – violin II * Eamon Murray –

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A Goatskin (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...

and backing vocals , percussion * Feilimidh Nunan – violin * ÒT – guitar *

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henle ...

– bass * Phillip Peterson – strings * Dierdre Reddy – violin * Jan Regulski – violin I * Rachel Roberts – viola * Mikey Rowe – keyboards * Joe Rubel – drum programming , additional guitars , synths * Ben Russell – double bass * Kotono Sato – viola * Nico Segal – trumpet * Matthew Sheeran – string arrangements * Hilary Skewes – coordination * Francis Farewell Starlite – backing vocals * Aura Stone – double bass * Yue Tang – cello * Leo Taylor – drums * Ryan Tedder – piano * John Tilley – piano and

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

*

Foy Vance Foy Best Vance (born 18 November 1974) is an Irish musician and singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland, signed to Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man Records, Gingerbread Man record label. Vance has toured as a support act to British singer-songwrite ...

– backing vocals * Anita Vedres – violin * Amy Wadge – backing vocals * Jessie Ware – backing vocals * Deborah Widdup – violin II

Production

* Executive producers –

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

and

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall ...

* Produced by Ed Sheeran , Benny Blanco ,

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern Briti ...

, Johnny McDaid , Will Hicks , Mike Elizondo , and Labrinth * Co-produced by Ed Sheeran * Additional production by Benny Blanco * Original production by

KillBeatz Joseph Kwame Addison, popularly known as KillBeatz, is a Ghanaian music producer and sound engineer. He is a member of music group R2Bees, R2bees and is also the CEO oLegacy Life Entertainment which has signed the Ghanaian musician King Promise. ...

* Engineered by Joe Rubel , Graham Archer , Chris Sclafani , Dann Pursey , Chris Laws , and Adam Hawkins * Assistant engineers – Duncan Fuller , Matt Jones , George Oulton , Paul Pritchard , Jack Fairbrother , Johnny Solway , Brent Arrowood , Archie Carter , Robert Sellens * Mixed by

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...

at The Mixsuite UK & LA * Assisted by Geoff Swan and Michael Freeman * Mastered by Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis Mastering, London * Design and art direction by Jonny Costello and Charlotte Audery at Adultartclubco.uk * Cover art photography by David Rowan * Illustrations by Kasiq Jungwoo * Photography by @gregwilliamsphotography * Original cover painting by Ed Sheeran with thanks to Damian and Science for use of their machine

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Divide 2017 albums Albums produced by Benny Blanco Albums produced by Ed Sheeran Albums produced by Steve Mac Asylum Records albums Ed Sheeran albums Albums produced by Labrinth Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album Albums involved in plagiarism controversies

Background

Release

Singles

Promotional singles

Critical reception

Commercial performance

United Kingdom

United States

Other markets

Worldwide

Track listing

Personnel

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

See also

References