LONDON (REUTERS) - Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has been named Britain's Artist of the Decade after a meteoric rise to stardom, the Official Charts Company said on Wednesday (Dec 11).

His global hit Shape Of You, which spent 14 weeks as No. 1 in 2017, was honoured as song of the decade.

The British four-time Grammy winner also has the most top singles and albums as well as spending the most weeks - 79 - in the top spot between 2010 and 2019, the company, which compiles Britain's weekly charts, noted.

Previous recipients of that award include Paul McCartney and Justin Bieber.

Mr Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said: "At the start of the decade, Sheeran was a little known 18-year-old from Suffolk but his catalogue of achievements since then are genuinely remarkable.

"Today, he is firmly established among the highest level of global music superstars."

Sheeran, now 28, first entered the British charts in 2011 with debut single The A Team.

He has since had eight British No. 1 singles.

His four studio albums each topped the British chart.

Shape Of You topped the Official Charts Company's list of the 100 biggest songs of the decade, followed by Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson, featuring Bruno Mars.

Two other Sheeran songs, Thinking Out Loud and Perfect, also made the top 10 of that list.

Adele's 21 and 25 took the first two spots in the 100 biggest albums of the decade.

Three of Sheeran's albums made the top 10.