× by Ed Sheeran

×, pronounced Multiply, is Ed Sheeran's second studio album, released through Asylum and Atlantic in June 2014, and it's a songwriter's record dressed for the big time, sliding between slow-dance balladry and quick-tongued, rhythmic pop without losing the bare-bones intimacy at its core.

Five singles came off it, and each pushed him further up the ladder. "Sing" became his first UK number one and "Don't" his first top ten hit in America, then "Thinking Out Loud", a slow-burning wedding-dance ballad, topped the charts in 12 countries and won two Grammys, Song of the Year among them. "Bloodstream" with Rudimental and "Photograph" rounded out the run. Spotify crowned it the planet's most-streamed album of 2014, it became the first album ever certified Diamond in Australia, and it took British Album of the Year at the 2015 Brits. A 10th anniversary edition followed in 2024.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.