Ed Sheeran named highest earning solo musician in Forbes rich list
Singer-songwriter beat fellow pop stars Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, and was ranked among the top 10 celebrity earners
Ed Sheeran has been named as the highest-earning solo artist, taking in an estimated £83m last year.
The singer-songwriter earned more than fellow pop stars Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, according to Forbe's new World's Highest-Paid Celebrities "rich list".
It means Sheeran has jumped 62 places from last year, placing ninth on the full list of top-earning celebrities such as Coldplay and U2, along with football stars Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo.
He was the most-streamed artist of last year thanks to his third album Divide, which was powered by hits including lead single "Shape of You", "Castle on the Hill", "Galway Girl" and "Perfect".
Ed Sheeran: career in pictures
Show all 12Sheeran was recently criticised after he won planning permission to build "anti-homeless railings outside his £8m home in London.
The singer, who has often spoken about his experiences of sleeping rough when he was trying to make it as an artist, was given the green light to install pedestrian gates and cast iron railings outside his home in Kensington and Chelsea.
According to a document submitted by his planning agent, the gates and railings will "prevent opportunities for rough sleeping".
Responding to initial reports of the planning application earlier this year, Sheeran claimed the story was "bulls**t" and called out The Sun for reporting it.
"I have done lots of work in the past for Crisis and Shelter and would never build railings outside my home for that reason," he wrote on Instagram. "The reason was to keep the paps that you employ from being on my doorstep."
A representative for Sheeran did not respond to The Independent's request for comment.
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