Suffolk's Ed Sheeran named most played artist of the year via Alexa

Questions about the coronation were also popular this year

Ed Sheeran
Author: Sian RochePublished 13th Dec 2023

Suffolk born singer Ed Sheeran's been revealed as the most played artist of the year via Amazon's virtual assistant, Alexa.

He beat out Taylor Swift, Lewis Capaldi and Elvis Presley to the top spot.

Flowers by Miley Cyrus was the most-played song of the year, with the US singer's Endless Summer Vacation also named as the most-played album, ahead of Harry's House by Harry Styles.

Elsewhere, the tech giant revealed questions about the King's coronation, Elon Musk's net worth and hit films Barbie and Oppenheimer were among the most asked of Alexa this year.

Amazon said "when is the king's coronation?", "how old is King Charles?" and "how many birthdays does the king have?" were among the frequently asked questions in the UK, along with "when did Barbie come out?" and "how long is Oppenheimer?".

The coronation has been a common theme for online searches across platforms this year, with Google revealing on Monday that "when is the coronation?" was the most searched for 'when' question of the year via Google's search engine.

Meryem Tom, Alexa UK and Ireland country manager said: "From the more meaningful to the mundane and the downright quirky, Alexa's most asked questions provides another fascinating snapshot of how customers in the UK use Alexa to learn, get help with tasks or ask for some quickfire entertainment."

Amazon's data also showed widespread interest in celebrities and sportspeople, with "how tall is Lionel Messi?", "how old is Elton John?" and "who is Jennifer Lopez married to?" among the top people-related searches of the year alongside "what is Elon Musk's net worth?".

With Alexa-powered smart speakers often found in home kitchens, Amazon revealed the most requested recipes from UK users, with Yorkshire pudding top, ahead of pancakes, banana bread, chilli con carne and apple crumble.

In addition, "sing Happy Birthday" was named the most requested "personality song", ahead of requests for Alexa to beatbox and sing a song about dogs.

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