The astonishing success of Ed Sheeran just keeps on going. His second album X has spent its eighth consecutive week at Number 1 in the UK charts, having debuted there upon release back in June.

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Ed Sheeran has equalled the record for consective weeks at Number 1 for a male solo artist

But with that eighth week at the summit, Sheeran has equalled the record for most consecutive weeks at Number 1 by a male solo artist. James Blunt’s debut Back To Bedlam spent the same amount of time at the top back in 2005. Sheeran’s run is also the longest at Number 1 for any artist since Adele’s monster success 21, which spent 11 weeks at the top back in 2011.

During its two month release span so far, X has already prevented new albums by 5 Seconds Of Summer, Morrissey and Manic Street Preachers from hitting the top as they might otherwise have been expected to. Albums by Ariana Grande and The Courteeners are out this week, and they pose the strongest threats to end Sheeran’s reign at the top and prevent him from taking the all-time record with a ninth week.

MORE: The rapid rise and initial struggles of Ed Sheeran

However, he’s still rather a long way from the overall record for longest stay at Number 1: over a year away, in fact. That honour belongs to the soundtrack album for South Pacific, which spent 70 uninterrupted weeks at the top in the late 1950s. Albums weren’t really something that popular artists ‘did’ back then, until the likes of The Beatles and The Beach Boys revolutionised it as an art form, so it’s hardly a fair comparison.

In any case, Sheeran’s incredible success both here and the States looks set to continue for some time yet.