SWANSEA, WALES - MAY 26: Ed Sheeran performs during day 1 of BBC Radio 1's Biggest Weekend 2018 held at Singleton Park on May 26, 2018, in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

This week, Ed Sheeran’s most recent global smash single “Perfect” is comfortable at No. 20 on the Hot 100, the all-encompassing singles chart in the U.S.
While that number might not be terribly exciting on its own, the British singer-songwriter is surely celebrating a new spot in history he has just claimed.

“Perfect” has now lived on the Hot 100 for an entire year, as this week is the fifty-second in a row for the title. While there have been over 50 songs that have managed to place somewhere on the listing for a full year (according to Billboard), it remains a relatively rare feat reserved only for the most successful cuts from the biggest stars.

Any musician would be thrilled to see a song chart for 52 weeks, but very few have done so more than once...and now Sheeran has become just the second name in history to see a trio of tunes find a home on the Hot 100 for an entire year. The only other act that has completed this incredible feat is Imagine Dragons, which means that Sheeran is the first solo star to place three singles on the Hot 100 for a year.

Sheeran’s first year-long hit was “Thinking Out Loud,” which stalled at No. 2 and quickly became the biggest hit of his career...until he released a new album not too long after “Thinking” finally descended. “Shape of You,” the tropical pop banger that fronted his most recent album ÷ (Divide), ended up also matching that feat before disappearing. Now, “Perfect” has become Sheeran’s third such success, and at the rate he’s going, he may be able to earn more in the future whenever he has new music to share.

“Perfect” served as the third proper single off the Brit’s third album Divide, and it ended up becoming one of his biggest. The syrupy-sweet love track went all the way to No. 1 in the U.S., thanks in part to Beyoncé, who hopped on a remixed version just a short time before it made it to the throne. Some of the weeks “Perfect” held court at the peak, both artists were credited, while for the final frames, just Sheeran was in charge.