Thursday, May 21, 2026

Pop Fizz: Ed Sheeran’s “Equals” Debuts Almost 30% Lower than Last Release, Adele Single Returns to Number 1

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The numbers are in for the week.

Ed Sheeran’s “Equals” debuts at number 1 today, but sales are 30% lower than  than his last release.

“Equals” came in at 123,000 copies sold, vs. “No. 6 Collaborations” project from July 2019 which sold 173,000 copies the week it came out. The latter album had a lot of guest stars, the new one is all Ed.

Sheeran is the musical guest this weekend on “Saturday Night Live,” after recovering from COVID. He’ll only get this week at number 1, as Taylor Swift and then Adele are coming for the charts.

Meantime, Adele has returned to number 1  on the singles chart after a brief detour thanks to the gaming of the iTunes chart by “Let’s Go, Brandon” fans. That ship has now sailed.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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