Pop singer Ed Sheeran struck gold after he recruited Beyoncé to hop on his single, “Perfect.” Together, the two climbed the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for several consecutive weeks. Today marks Sheeran’s sixth week at the top of the charts, but one thing is noticeably different: Beyoncé’s name has reportedly been dropped from the credit billing.
Billboard confirms that after five weeks, the credits on “Perfect” have reverted to displaying Sheeran as a solo act. This new billing is reportedly seen on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as other pop and sub-genre charts.
The removal of Beyoncé’s credit definitely comes at an interesting time. The duet version of the single reportedly contributed tremendously to the singles sales and streams. Following the collaboration, many fans engaged in a debate whether Sheeran had enlisted Beyoncé in order to nab a No. 1 single. So, this latest move begs the question whether their suspicions were right.
It has not been confirmed whether Sheeran or Beyoncé made the final decision to drop her name from the single. Billboard notes that this has previously been done on tracks like Britney Spears’ 2011 song “Til the World Ends,” featuring Nicki Minaj and Kesha.
(Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
