Pop superstar Ed Sheeran made history as he was given a special-edition Gold BRIT Billion Award by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for being the first artiste to surpass 10 billion streams in the UK.

He received one billion of those streams in the past 12 months alone.

Ed, who has had six number-one UK albums, said: “It’s wonderful to receive the first-ever BRIT Billion Award in the UK for 10 billion streams.”

He added “I want to say a big thank you to my fans. None of this is possible without you guys.”

This gold award is an addition to earlier this year when Ed was named the UK’s most-played artiste for the sixth time in eight years.