Ed Sheeran during his record-breaking Divide tour

Ed Sheeran's third world concert tour, ÷ [Divide] Tour, has proved incredibly popular. So popular in fact, it's earned him three Guinness World Records titles.

As his show enters its final stages, the ever-popular singer-songwriter has achieved the highest attendance for a music tour, highest-grossing music tour by a solo artist and highest-grossing music tour.

Named after his chart-topping album, the tour began in March 2017. By the time it ends in Ipswich (UK) on 26 August, Sheeran will have completed a staggering 260-date musical trek across six continents. 

Ed Sheeran Divide

The tour reportedly became the most profitable music tour of all time after notching up a gross of $736.7 million (£666.2 million) at the 250th show at Messegelände Hannover (Hanover Fairground) in Germany on 2 August this year. 

This lucrative journey has beaten the previous highest-grossing tour, U2's 360° Tour ($736,421,584 – or £450,031,000 – from 110 shows between June 2009 and July 2011), with a handful of dates to spare.

U2 Bono

The record for highest attendance for a music tour, which Sheeran achieved during the same tour, was surpassed in France on 24 May 2019 when a show at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon eclipsed U2's attendance figures, raising the benchmark from 7,272,046 to 8.1 million people.

Due to Sheeran's heady talents, the UK along with the USA lead the way in Guinness World Records 2020 for 'Live Music' related records. 

The ÷ Tour had already made it into the annual for the highest-grossing music tour in a single year, generating $429.5 m (£336.6 m) from 99 shows in 2018 while Sheeran's friend and collaborator, Taylor Swift, also features having achieved the highest-grossing music tour by a female artist (current year)

Taylor Swift

Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour grossed $345.7 million (£269.4 million) in 2018, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. The American superstar's fifth concert tour, in support of her 2017 album of the same name, was also the second-highest-grossing tour of 2018 after Sheeran’s ÷ Tour.

Power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z, aka The Carters, also appear in the new book having achieved the record for highest-grossing music tour by a duo (current year)

Their On the Run II Tour grossed $253.5 million (£195.2 million) from 48 shows in 2018, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. 

Beyonce and Jay Z

The American duo kicked off their second co-headlining stadium tour at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in Wales, UK, on 6 June 2018, with the final performance taking place at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, USA, on 4 October 2018.

For a full listing of all the amazing music records, make sure you grab your copy of Guinness World Records 2020!

Guinness World Records 2020