+ (album)

+ (pronounced "plus") is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 9 September 2011 by Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. The album is considered Sheeran's commercial breakthrough. He previously released five EPs independently. Jake Gosling and Sheeran produced the majority of the album, with additional production by American hip hop producer No I.D.

+
Studio album by Ed Sheeran
Released	9 September 2011
Recorded	January–March 2011
Genre	Folk pop indie pop
Length	49:53
Label	Asylum Atlantic
Producer	Jake Gosling Charlie Hugall No I.D. Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran chronology
iTunes Festival: London 2011 (2011) + (2011) Thank You (2011)
Singles from +
"The A Team" Released: 12 June 2011 "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" Released: 26 August 2011 "Lego House" Released: 13 November 2011 "Drunk" Released: 19 February 2012 "Small Bump" Released: 25 May 2012 "Give Me Love" Released: 21 November 2012
Alternate cover
HMV 2017 vinyl exclusive re-issue cover

Media interest surrounding + was heightened by its two preceding singles—"The A Team" and "You Need Me, I Don't Need You"—which peaked at numbers three and four on the UK Singles Chart, respectively. "Lego House" was released on 11 November 2011 as the album's third single and matched the chart success of its predecessors, peaking at number five in the UK. Three additional singles—"Drunk", "Small Bump", and "Give Me Love"—were released throughout the year, all charting within the top 25 of the UK Singles Chart. Worldwide, the album has sold more than 4 million copies.

The album was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Upon release, + debuted atop of the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales exceeding 102,000 copies. The album performed well on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number five, selling 42,000 copies. The album was the highest debut for a British artist's first studio album in the US since Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream in 2009. + is the ninth best-selling album of the 2010s in the United Kingdom.

Background

Sheeran performing at Academy 1 in Manchester.

After completing school at age 16, Sheeran spent his student grant on rail tickets. Moving from place to place, he performed at open-mic nights across the United Kingdom, where he would sleep on his friends' sofas spending time self-releasing homemade EPs and albums.[1] After spending four years performing in the British live scene, Sheeran met singer Jamie Foxx in Los Angeles, and Foxx liked Sheeran enough to "put [Sheeran] on the path to success".[2]

In early 2010, Sheeran was having what he described as a "rough time" in the UK, and he spontaneously left for Los Angeles to spend a month "to see what could happen". After performing a gig in the city, he was approached by Foxx's contact, who produced open-mic nights endorsed by Foxx.[2] She invited him to perform, which he agreed to, and after the performance he was contacted by Foxx's manager, who then asked him to perform on Foxx's radio show.[2] After performing on the radio show, Foxx gave Sheeran his number offering studio time free of charge.[2] Sheeran took the opportunity to record several tracks in the studio and attended several parties with Foxx, describing the time as "surreal".[2] In addition, Sheeran's appearances on YouTube also garnered success when he uploaded a performance of track "You Need Me, I Don't Need You", which garnered over half a million views, making him "one of the most talked about UK acts".[2]

Following this, Sheeran signed to Atlantic Records and was signed to Elton John's management team called Rocket, which Sheeran discussed, saying: "Elton walked in and said, 'Where's Ed Sheeran?' I was like, 'F-ing hell! He knows my name!' It's surreal, growing up listening to his music and now he is one of the people who sings my praises and helps my career and rings me up and actually has an interest in me".[1] Sheeran started performing with the acoustic guitar aged 11 and his love for the instrument was what "got [him] into music and singing".[2] His musical inspirations from an early age surfaced from The Beatles and Bob Dylan, but he noted Damien Rice as a larger influence on his music whom he met after an intimate performance in Dublin.[2] Throughout the production of +, Sheeran knew "how [he] wanted every single song to sound", and because of this they only took around one day each to record, with the final product featuring "the same sound", which he described as an achievement.[2]

Music

"I'm always being introduced to new people that are really good. Being a songwriter myself, I love the way they put lyrics together. If you listen to Ghetts' flow, it's not necessarily like four-bar, four-bar, four-bar. He'll do a two and a half bar rhyme and then stop, and go into something else. And me as a songwriter, that sort of fascinated me, like how can you get away with that? That really interested me. I've started writing songs a bit more like that, lyrically."

—Sheeran explaining the influence of the "Grime" style on +.[2]

+ is influenced by rapper Eminem,[3] hip-hop inspired duo Nizlopi and recording artist Damien Rice.[4] Sheeran performs throughout the record with a small acoustic guitar, with "no band" and "no beats". The Daily Telegraph found that the lyricism is based around subjects he cares about in his own life, performing with a "soft toned, flexible voice" with a hip-hop theme.[1] The record features "chipper" beats with staccato guitar riffs throughout. It differs between genres, with tracks such as "Grade 8" showing R&B influences, garnering comparisons to Bruno Mars, while the album also features folk-hop inspired tracks such as "Drunk", a "self-pitying, doomed attempt to resurrect a lost relationship".[5] Lyricism also derives from Sheeran's own "self-doubt" heard in tracks such as "Wake Me Up" and "Kiss Me", which has been compared to musician Van Morrison.[5] The record also visits a "darker side" on tracks such as "The City", which depicts homeless street-life and features Sheeran beat-boxing. The album concludes with the track "Give Me Love" and the Scottish folk song "The Parting Glass" as a bonus track.[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	67/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
The Daily Telegraph	[8]
Entertainment Weekly	B-[9]
The Guardian	[10]
The Independent	[5]
London Evening Standard	[11]
NME	4/10[12]
The Observer	[13]
The Scotsman
State	[14]

"Experimentation with styles and the melding of musical approaches is to be commended, obviously; but to relate authenticity with consistent, similar output is something very wrong indeed, as not everybody singing the same song is coming from the same place. These charting mutations and variations have as much to do with our culture of instant gratification as they do with music growing out-of-date more quickly – and what better person to stand tall at the lectern than 20-year-old Ed Sheeran, whose unlikely combination of acoustic folk and grime has seen him become one of 2011's biggest domestic successes."

—Natalie Shaw of BBC Music.[15]

+ received mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[6] Andy Gill of The Independent gave the album four stars out of five, finding that Sheeran was right to follow his own "instincts" and not conform to mainstream pop music, saying: "if he had followed the advice to tone down the crackhead portrait of 'The A Team', Sheeran might have wound up with a respectable, if predictable, career as a mainstream folkie singer-songwriter rocking the outer reaches of Radio Two" but found his "nimble hip-hop delivery rides a slick R&B groove" and his "blue-collar sensibilities cut through" after not attending schools such as the Brits school.[5] Alex Petridis of The Guardian gave the album three out of five stars, writing that, "at its worst, + is a pretty winsome business"; Petridis found the lyricism of tracks such as "Wake Me Up" weak, but stated that, "apart from his teen appeal, Sheeran's strength is his melodic ability, a way with a really strong, radio-friendly tune, as on 'The City' or 'Grade 8'". However, Petridis concluded his review by stating: "You can't help wishing he'd put said ability to slightly more edgy use, but then again, he still might: at least there's evidence that Ed Sheeran might still be around when the screaming girls grow up and calm down."[10] Jon O'Brien of AllMusic found that Sheeran failed to "capitalize on his unique selling point", stating: "Indeed, the unexpected hugely popular response to lead single 'The A Team', an achingly tender tale of a heroin-addicted prostitute (think a socially aware James Blunt) seems to have thrown him off course, as rather than pursue the more urban direction that set him apart from his contemporaries, the majority of Plus' 12 tracks feel like self-conscious attempts to replicate its sound".[7]

Natalie Shaw of BBC Music gave the album a mixed response, calling + at times "precocious" and "self-referencing", with the track "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" being listed as an example of this. However, in contrast, she found "Drunk" to be sweet, considered "Grade 8" a standout track, and positively commented on the chorus of track "The City". In conclusion, Shaw stated: "+ will give Sheeran's rabid fanbase a lot to love, but it'll also make him an easy target for critics hungry for new directions in pop, as it fails to really gel the man's loves of folk and rap. If he ditches his bottom-of-a-Tube-escalator ballads (see 'Kiss Me') and stops trying to show off, Sheeran could well become a thrilling proposition over an entire long-player, rather than just in all-too-brief moments of magic."[15] John Lewis of newspaper Metro gave the album a mixed review. He stating that Sheeran "is at his best when he combines both worlds. Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, his lovelorn ballads will suddenly lurch into verbose, rhythmically complex rhymes that display all the verbal dexterity of a grime MC". However, Lewis also found that Sheeran failed to maintain the success throughout, performing "gloopy" and "anonymous" ballads.[16] Emily Mackay of NME gave the album four out of ten marks, questioning his authenticity as a musician. She wrote: "He's got the touches of 'urban' styling with flimsy hip-hop rhythms and Plan B-lite veering between half-arsed rapping and boyband emoting. He's got the 'issues' songs (the Dido-ish, maudlin 'Drunk', the omnipresent saccharine horror of the drugs/homelessness/prostitution triple-whammy of 'The A-Team')". She concluded her review by noting that "There's little here that moves on from the kind of trip-hop balladeers that abounded in the late '90s".[12]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, midweek sales reports showed that + was set to top the UK Albums Chart, although Digital Spy reported that it still faced competition from Laura Marling's album A Creature I Don't Know.[17] For the week of 18 September 2011, + debuted atop the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 102,000 copies.[18] After the album topped the chart, Sheeran wrote on his Twitter account "No. 1 album and 2 songs in the top 20! mental! Thank you all so much!", and then added "Here's my THANK YOU for getting my album to #1! Hope you enjoy it", including a link to download a free EP.[19] The EP featured three tracks: "Fire Alarms", "She" and a remix of single "You Need Me, I Don't Need You".[19] By the end of 2011, the album had been certified Triple Platinum, indicating sales of over 900,000 copies.[20] As of June 2015, the album has sold 1,958,000 copies in the UK, making it the sixth-best-selling album of the 2010s and the 44th-best-selling album of the 21st century. It is also one of the longest-charting albums in UK chart history, with over 200 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.[21]

In Ireland, the album was placed in the top 10 for 8 consecutive years, from 2011 to 2018.[22][23][24][25][26][27] [28][29] In Australia, the album debuted at number 41 on the ARIA Albums Chart for the week commencing 31 October 2011, peaking at number one on 13 August 2012.[30] The album has been certified Triple Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). By January 2013, the album had spent 65 consecutive weeks on the ARIA Albums Chart and was still in the Top 5.[31] With 222 weeks, it is the all-time longest charting album in Australia.[32] It reached the top 10 in 6 non-consecutive years, in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018, including a placement at No. 6 in its 222nd charting week in March 2018.[33] In New Zealand, the album debuted at number 34 and ultimately topped the chart 54 weeks later.[34] + debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling 42,000 units in its first week.[35] As of March 2017, + has sold 1.21 million copies in the United States.[36]

Tour dates

Ed Sheeran announced in May 2011 a 21 date UK & Ireland tour where he played songs from the newly realised album.[37] Sheeran then went on to add further dates for the start of 2012 and it was confirmed he would be playing his largest gig yet at Brixton Academy.[38] Ed Sheeran would be touring the US for the first time in early 2012 by supporting Snow Patrol on their Fallen Empires Tour.[39] It was announced that Sheeran would be touring Australia and New Zealand for the first time in the July and August 2012.[40] Sheeran then announced in January that he would be doing his first headline tour of the US and his largest headline shows to date in the UK.[41][42] Before supporting Taylor Swift on her The Red Tour, Sheeran embarked on an 18 date tour across the US[43]

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue.

Date	City	Country	Venue
British Isles
2 October 2011	Oxford	England	O2 Academy Oxford
3 October 2011	London		O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
4 October 2011	Bournemouth		O2 Academy Bournemouth
5 October 2011	Falmouth		Falmouth Princess Pavilion
6 October 2011	Brighton		Brighton Concorde 2
8 October 2011	London		O2 Forum Kentish Town
9 October 2011	Bristol		University of Bristol Students' Union
10 October 2011	Nottingham		Nottingham Rock City
11 October 2011	Birmingham		O2 Academy Birmingham 2
13 October 2011	Leeds		Leeds University Union
14 October 2011	Glasgow	Scotland	O2 ABC Glasgow
15 October 2011	Newcastle	England	Newcastle University Students' Union
17 October 2011	Manchester		Manchester Academy 2
18 October 2011	Keele		Keele University
19 October 2011	Cardiff	Wales	Wales Millennium Centre
20 October 2011	Reading	England	Reading sub89
23 October 2011	Norwich		University of East Anglia
25 October 2011	Cambridge		Cambridge Junction
1 November 2011	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Mandela Hall
2 November 2011	Galway	Ireland	Róisín Dubh
3 November 2011	Dublin		Vicar Street
8 January 2012	Aberdeen	Scotland	Music Hall Aberdeen
9 January 2012	Edinburgh		Edinburgh Picture House
10 January 2012
13 January 2012	Manchester	England	Manchester Academy
17 January 2012	Wolverhampton		Wolverhampton Civic Hall
18 January 2012
19 January 2012	London		Brixton Academy
20 January 2012
21 January 2012	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Waterfront Hall
Continental Europe
1 March 2012	Oslo	Norway	Rockefeller Music Hall
2 March 2012	Stockholm	Sweden	Debaser Hornstulls Strand
3 March 2012	Copenhagen	Denmark	Vega, Copenhagen
4 March 2012	Berlin	Germany	Heimathafen Neukölln
5 March 2012	Hamburg		Docks
7 March 2012	Munich		Backstage Werk
8 March 2012	Zurich	Switzerland	Kaufleuten
9 March 2012	Paris	France	La Maroquinerie
10 March 2012	Brussels	Belgium	Ancienne Belgique
11 March 2012	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Melkweg
Oceania
29 July 2012	Auckland	New Zealand	ASB Theatre
31 July 2012	Brisbane	Australia	QPAC Concert Hall
1 August 2012	Sydney		Enmore Theatre
3 August 2012	Melbourne		Palais Theatre
4 August 2012	Adelaide		Thebarton Theatre
6 August 2012	Perth		Riverside Theatre
Europe
2 September 2012[lower-alpha 1]	London	England	Roundhouse
North America
17 September 2012	Toronto	Canada	The Guvernment
18 September 2012	Montreal		Olympia
19 September 2012	Boston	United States	House of Blues
21 September 2012	New York City		Terminal 5
22 September 2012	Washington		9:30 Club
23 September 2012	Philadelphia		Theatre of Living Arts
25 September 2012	Chicago		Riviera Theatre
26 September 2012	Minneapolis		State Theatre
28 September 2012	Denver		Bluebird Theater
1 October 2012	Los Angeles		Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre
2 October 2012	San Diego		House of Blues
4 October 2012	Vancouver	Canada	Queen Elizabeth Theatre
5 October 2012	Portland	United States	Wonder Ballroom
6 October 2012	Seattle		The Showbox
British Isles
12 October 2012	London	England	Hammersmith Apollo
13 October 2012
14 October 2012
15 October 2012
16 October 2012
18 October 2012	Brighton		Brighton Centre
19 October 2012	Newport	Wales	Newport Centre
20 October 2012	Bournemouth	England	Bournemouth International Centre
21 October 2012	Plymouth		Plymouth Pavilions
23 October 2012	Swindon		Oasis Leisure Centre
25 October 2012	Reading		Rivermead
26 October 2012	Birmingham		O2 Academy Birmingham
27 October 2012
28 October 2012
30 October 2012	Nottingham		Motorpoint Arena
31 October 2012	Manchester		O2 Apollo Manchester
1 November 2012
2 November 2012
4 November 2012	Doncaster		The Dome Leisure Centre
5 November 2012
6 November 2012	Hull		Hull Arena
7 November 2012	Blackpool		Empress Ballroom
9 November 2012	Newcastle		Newcastle City Hall
10 November 2012
11 November 2012	Edinburgh	Scotland	Usher Hall
13 November 2012	Glasgow		Barrowlands
14 November 2012
North America
17 January 2013	Houston	United States	House of Blues
18 January 2013	Dallas		The Palladium Ballroom
19 January 2013	Austin		Stubb's BBQ
22 January 2013	Nashville		Ryman Auditorium
25 January 2013	Cincinnati		Bogart's
26 January 2013	Indianapolis		Old National Centre
28 January 2013	Pittsburgh		Stage AE
29 January 2013	Baltimore		Rams Head Live!
30 January 2013	New York City		Radio City Music Hall
1 February 2013	Louisville		The Louisville Palace
2 February 2013	St. Louis		The Pageant
3 February 2013	Kansas City		Midland Theatre
5 February 2013	Broomfield		1stBank Center
6 February 2013	Magna		The Great Saltair
9 February 2013	Los Angeles		Hollywood Palladium
11 February 2013	Seattle		KeyArena
12 February 2013	San Diego		Spreckels Theater
13 February 2013	Tempe		Marquee Theatre
14 February 2013	Tucson		Rialto Theatre
17 February 2013	Los Angeles		Nokia Theater
26 March 2013	Greenville		Timmons Arena
10 May 2013	Milwaukee		The Rave
31 October 2013	New York City		Mercury Lounge
29 October 2013			Madison Square Gardens
1 November 2013
7 November 2013

Track listing

All tracks produced by Jake Gosling, except where noted.

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The A Team"	Ed Sheeran		4:18
2.	"Drunk"	Sheeran Gosling		3:20
3.	"U.N.I."	Sheeran Gosling		3:48
4.	"Grade 8"	Sheeran True Tiger (Robert Conlon Sukhdeep Uppall)	Gosling Charlie Hugall^[a]	2:59
5.	"Wake Me Up"	Sheeran Gosling		3:49
6.	"Small Bump"	Sheeran		4:19
7.	"This"	Sheeran Gordon Mills Jr.		3:15
8.	"The City"	Sheeran Gosling		3:54
9.	"Lego House"	Sheeran Gosling Chris Leonard		3:05
10.	"You Need Me, I Don't Need You"	Sheeran	Gosling Hugall	3:40
11.	"Kiss Me"	Sheeran Justin Franks Julie Frost	Sheeran No I.D.	4:40
12.	"Give Me Love" (followed by the hidden track, "The Parting Glass")	Sheeran Gosling Leonard		8:46
Total length:				49:53

Deluxe edition bonus tracks[44]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Autumn Leaves"	Sheeran Gosling	3:20
14.	"Little Bird"	Sheeran	3:44
15.	"Gold Rush"	Sheeran Amy Wadge	4:03
16.	"Sunburn"	Sheeran	4:35
Total length:			65:35

Japanese deluxe edition CD bonus track[45]

No.	Title	Length
17.	"The A Team" (acoustic version)	4:01

Japanese deluxe edition digital bonus tracks[46]

No.	Title	Length
17.	"Sofa"	3:19
18.	"Homeless"	3:30
19.	"Lego House" (music video)	4:05

Australian deluxe edition bonus DVD: Live from O₂ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London[47]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Grade 8"
2.	"The City"
3.	"U.N.I."
4.	"Homeless"
5.	"Drunk"
6.	"Small Bump"
7.	"Lego House"
8.	"Kiss Me"
9.	"Wake Me Up"
10.	"The A Team"
11.	"Give Me Love"
12.	"You Need Me, I Don't Need You"

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer.
• "The City," "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" and "Sunburn" are all re-recorded versions from 2009's You Need Me EP, whereas "The A Team," "Little Bird," "Sofa" and "Homeless" originally appeared on the 2010s Loose Change EP; on later EP pressings, "The A Team" would be replaced with "Let It Out."

Personnel

Credits taken from Allmusic and +'s liner notes.[48]

Ed Sheeran – vocals and acoustic guitar (all tracks), beat box (8, 10), bass (2, 10), electric guitar (1, 2, 4, 6, 8-11, 14), handclaps (12), percussion (10), piano (5, 10) Jake Gosling – backing vocals (track 12), drums (track 10), handclapping (12), keyboards (2, 3, 6, 8, 14), piano (1, 4, 9), programming (1, 2, 4, 6, 8-10, 12-16), string arrangements (12), strings (1, 13) Chris Leonard – acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 4, 9, 12), backing vocals (12), bass (3, 9), electric guitar (3-5, 7, 15), handclaps (12) Anna Leddra Chapman – backing vocals (track 3) Louisa Fuller – violin (track 12) Tom Greenwood – piano (track 10) Sally Herbert – string arrangements (track 12) Ben Hollingsworth – drums (track 10) Charlie Hugall – additional drums and percussion (track 10) Oli Langford – violin (track 12) John Metcalfe – viola (track 12) No I.D. – programming (track 11) Chris Worsey – cello (track 12) Production Produced by Jake Gosling (tracks 1-10, 12-16), Charlie Hugall (10), Ed Sheeran (track 11), No I.D. (track 11) All Tracks Co-Produced by Ed Sheeran Recorded by Jake Gosling (tracks 1-4, 6, 8-10, 12-16), Guy Massey (5, 7), Charlie Hugall (10), Rob Kinaelski (11) Additional Recording by Guy Massey (tracks 3, 9, 12), Charlie Hugall (4) Assisted by Edd Hartwell (tracks 2-5, 9, 12) Additional Vocal Recording by Ruadhri Cushnan (track 9) Mixed by Jake Gosling (tracks 1, 13-16), Ruadhri Cushnan (2-4, 6, 8, 9, 12), Guy Massey (5, 7), Charlie Hugall (10), Rob Kinaelski (11) Assisted by Grant Rawlinson and Marco Martini (tracks 2-4, 6, 8, 9, 12), Anna Ugarte (11) Vocals Mixed by Jake Gosling (track 11) Mastering by Christian Wright Illustrations by Phillip Butah Executive Production by Ben Cook and Ed Howard Managed by Stuart Camp Charts Weekly charts Chart (2011–20) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[30] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[49] 21 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[50] 9 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[51] 38 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[52] 5 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[53] 60 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[54] 13 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[55] 8 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[56] 34 French Albums (SNEP)[57] 44 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[58] 12 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[59] 12 Irish Albums (IRMA)[60] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI)[61] 28 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[62] 75 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[63] 61 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[34] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[64] 11 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[65] 40 Scottish Albums (OCC)[66] 1 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[67] 59 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[68] 19 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[69] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[70] 1 US Billboard 200[71] 5 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[72] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[73] 2 Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[74] 58 Irish Albums (IRMA)[75] 19 UK Albums (OCC)[76] 9 Chart (2012) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[77] 5 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[78] 50 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[79] 48 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[80] 22 Irish Albums (IRMA)[81] 3 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[82] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[83] 54 UK Albums (OCC)[84] 3 US Billboard 200[85] 136 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[86] 7 US Rock Albums (Billboard)[87] 37 Chart (2013) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[88] 12 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[89] 99 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[90] 53 Irish Albums (IRMA)[91] 17 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[92] 6 UK Albums (OCC)[93] 47 US Billboard 200[94] 46 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[95] 3 US Rock Albums (Billboard)[96] 8 Chart (2014) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[97] 38 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[98] 71 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[99] 17 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[100] 31 UK Albums (OCC)[101] 51 US Billboard 200[102] 122 Chart (2015) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[103] 30 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[104] 50 Irish Albums (IRMA)[105] 20 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[106] 23 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[107] 46 UK Albums (OCC)[108] 38 US Billboard 200[109] 59 Chart (2016) Position Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[110] 65 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[111] 76 Chart (2017) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[112] 12 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[113] 44 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[114] 56 UK Albums (OCC)[115] 16 US Billboard 200[116] 195 US Rock Albums (Billboard)[117] 31 Chart (2018) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[118] 23 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[119] 80 Irish Albums (IRMA)[120] 36 UK Albums (OCC)[121] 57 Chart (2019) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[122] 77 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[123] 196 UK Albums (OCC)[124] 73 Chart (2020) Position UK Albums (OCC)[125] 99 Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[126] 9 UK Albums (OCC)[127] 7 US Billboard 200[128] 176 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[129] Diamond 500,000 Austria (IFPI Austria)[130] Gold 10,000^* Canada (Music Canada)[131] 4× Platinum 320,000^^ Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[132] 2× Platinum 40,000 France (SNEP)[133] Gold 50,000^* Germany (BVMI)[134] Platinum 200,000^^ Ireland (IRMA)[135] 6× Platinum 90,000^^ Italy (FIMI)[136] Platinum 50,000 New Zealand (RMNZ)[137] 5× Platinum 75,000^^ Poland (ZPAV)[138] 2× Platinum 40,000 Singapore (RIAS)[139] Platinum 10,000^* Sweden (GLF)[140] Platinum 40,000 Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[141] Gold 15,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[142] 8× Platinum 2,400,000[143] United States (RIAA)[144] 2× Platinum 1,210,000[36] Summaries Europe (IFPI)[145] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^* Worldwide — 4,000,000[146] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone Release history Region Date Format(s) Label Ireland[147] 9 September 2011 CD digital download (standard, deluxe) Asylum Records Atlantic Records United Kingdom[148][149] 12 September 2011 CD digital download (standard, deluxe) LP (standard) Japan[150][151] 13 September 2011 CD digital download (standard, special) Warner Music Australia[152] 23 September 2011 CD digital download Netherlands[153] 18 November 2011 Switzerland[154] 13 January 2012 Poland[155] 16 January 2012 Germany[156] 10 February 2012 Argentina[157] 15 May 2012 United States[158] 12 June 2012 Elektra Records See also List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2010s List of number-one albums of 2012 (Australia) List of number-one albums of 2012 (Ireland) List of number-one albums of 2013 (Ireland) Notes The show of 2 September 2012 in London at the Roundhouse was part of the 2012 iTunes Festival References McCormick, Neil (3 August 2011). 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"プラス [初回限定特別価格盤] / エド・シーラン 全英アルバム・チャート1位、発売週でゴールド・ディスクを獲得した英国の新鋭、エド・シーランのメジャー・デビュー・アルバム! 卓越したメロディーメイクのセンスと、ずば抜けたグライム(ラップ)のスキルを携え、毎晩繰り返されるライヴでその名をあげファンを拡大していった、「シンガーソング・ライターという枠を超越した」全く新しい美声と才能、エド・シーラン。レコード会社争奪戦後、アトランティックとメジャー契約! エルトン・ジョンも才能に惚れ込み、マネージメント契約! 「The A Team～飛べない天使たち～」の楽曲から英国で火が付き、デビュー・アルバムである本作はプラチナ・アルバム(50万枚超え)獲得確実(10.21時点)。全英初登場1位&初週セールスは、この10年で男性新人NO.1を記録。解説・歌詞・対訳付き。 日本盤ボーナス・トラック収録". CDJapan.co.jp. Retrieved 18 January 2012. "iTunes – mUsic - + by Ed Sheeran". iTunes Store (JP), Apple. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2012. "(Deluxe Edition) | CD & DVD Music, Music Genres, Pop/Rock : JB HI-FI". Jbhifionline.com.au. Retrieved 12 February 2013. "Ed Sheeran : Credits". AllMusic. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2013. "Austriancharts.at – Ed Sheeran – %2B" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2013. "Ultratop.be – Ed Sheeran – %2B" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2013. 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