Zakary Walters
Sorry, Justin Bieber: Ed Sheeran‘s the new king of TikTok — at least when it comes to live musical performances.
Ed’s TikTok UEFA EURO 2020 show, which was streamed on Friday June 25 from Portman Road, the home stadium of Ed’s local Ipswich Town soccer team, drew more than 5.5 million unique viewers across the first live stream and two replays on Saturday.
According to TikTok, that breaks the record of four million views set by Justin Bieber during his Journals LIVE performance back in February.
The special featured the live premiere of Ed’s new single, “Bad Habits,” as well as performances of past hits like “A Team,” “Sing,” “Shape of You” and “Visiting Hours,” the song he introduced earlier this year at the funeral of his friend, Australian concert promoter Michael Gudinski. The concert marked the first full show Ed’s ever done with a live band.
The event also featured augmented reality that integrated with the soccer stadium backdrop, and a custom stage specifically designed to look good on TikTok’s vertical video format.
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