Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has been included in the birthday honours list of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and has been awarded an MBE, which stands for Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
Upon receiving the news, the chart-topping star wrote on Instagram “Chuffed to be awarded an MBE for services to charity and music, thanks for all your lovely messages”.
The Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry granted by the sovereign of the United Kingdom to British citizens who have made major contibutions to the arts, sciences, charity and other forms of public service outside of the formal civil service.
An MBE is the lowest of the five classes of the order. Being given the honor grants the privilege to use the post nominal-MBE, which means formally the singer will be known as Ed Sheeran MBE, in addition to that he will also be granted a place in the United Kingdom, Order of Precedence.
Sheeran has come a long way since occasionally sleeping outside of Buckingham Palace when he was homeless for two years. This year in particular has been really good for him.
The 26-year old singer’s third album ÷ (Divide) which was released on March, went to number one in several countries and became the fastest selling album by a male artist in the United Kingdom. He also set a record by simultaneously occupying nine slots in the UK Top ten singles, as well as sixteen slots in the UK Top 20!
One of the carrier singles of the album “Shape of You” also set a record by becoming the fastest song to reach a billion streams on Spotify; it also ranks as the second most streamed song in Spotify’s history.
If he keeps this up, he may well be on his way to a knighthood. For his sake though, hopefully the royal who wields the sword would be extra careful.
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