Ed Sheeran was the most played artist in the UK in 2021

For the fourth time in five years, Ed Sheeran was the most listened to artist in the UK. According to the PPL, the British equivalent of our ECAD, English was the most listened to on radio, pubs, television, clubs and commercial establishments in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. As if that wasn’t enough, “Bad Habits”, also by him, was the best-selling song in 2021.

The top 10 was evenly split between local and international artists. Dua Lipa, Little Mix, Coldplay and Calvin Harris placed third, fourth, fifth and eighth respectively. Frenchman David Gueta (second), Canadians Justin Bieber and The Weeknd (seventh and eighth) and Americans Taylor Swift and P!nk, in ninth and tenth positions, completed the ranking.

The most played songs

The list with the ten most played songs has some peculiarities. Only two of them reached number 1 on the chart, the aforementioned “Bad Habits” and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” (above), at number four. Two other singles reached number three: “Heartbreak Anthem (With Little Mix, David Guetta)” by Galantis (at number seven) and “BED (With David Guetta, Raye)” by Joel Corry (at number ten).

The other most played songs were Calvin Harris’s “By Your Side (Ft. Tom Grennan)” in second place, Tom Grennan’s “Little Bit Of Love” in third place, Coldplay’s “Higher Power” (fifth) , “All You Ever Wanted” by Rag’N’Bone Man (sixth), “Starstruck” by Years & Years (eighth) and “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus (ninth)