Prior to hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 today (Dec. 11) with “Perfect,” his duet with Beyoncé, Billboard’s Kevan Kenney asked Ed Sheeran backstage at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball over the weekend how scoring the chart-topper would feel. “I mean, really fucking cool to be honest,” was Sheeran’s reply.
Of course, this single is Sheeran’s second No. 1 hit this year, following “Shape of You” in Jan. Sheeran spoke to the unpredictable nature of album cycles, especially due to the current nature of streaming. “Albums basically go up and down so quickly,” the singer noted, “and it’s so hard to have [long, lasting] campaigns nowadays.”
He pointed to his label Atlantic Records as the masterminds behind the album’s prolonged success, adding, “They’re very very very good at their jobs.” See the entire reaction video, above.