Ed Sheeran Earns Honorary Degree From His Hometown University for Music Contribution

It’s official: you can call him Dr. Sheeran now.

British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, who ditched school at 16 to focus on his music career, has received an honorary degree from his hometown university.

Sheeran, who grew up in Framlingham, Suffolk, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from University Campus Suffolk (UCS) in Ipswich in respect of his “outstanding contribution to music.”

“I graduated today, I am now officially Dr. Sheeran,” he announced from his social media pages.

Sheeran attended the ceremony dressed proudly in the university’s gown and cap. “I’ve had an amazing year … and this makes it even better,” he said on receiving his honor. He added, “Suffolk is very much where I call home. Receiving this recognition is a real privilege.”

When Sheeran says he’s had an amazing year, he’s not kidding. The artist’s “Thinking Out Loud” recently became the first song on Spotify to hit the 500 million stream milestone and he fulfilled a dream when he played three sold-out solo dates at London’s Wembley Stadium in July. The following month he was crowned top musical act in the U.S. for the first time on the Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across Billboard’s most influential charts.

Later in the year, he’ll become the first male artist in two decades to tour stadiums completely solo (he’ll perform with just a loop pedal and his acoustic guitar) in Australia, where his sophomore album X was the best-seller for 2014. Sheeran will co-host the MTV Europe Music Awards this Sunday in Milan, Italy.