Ed Sheeran wins Artist of the Year Moon Person at the 2017 VMAs

The inaugural artist of the year winner has officially been dubbed – and it’s Ed Sheeran, People.com reports.

Sheeran took home the coveted new award at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night in Los Angeles, besting Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, Lorde and Kendrick Lamar.

“This is only my second ever VMA and yeah this is still mad,” Sheeran said when he took the stage, keeping his speech short but sending a heartfelt “thank you” and “cheers” to all his fans.

For the first-time in VMAs history, the network eliminated gendered categories to combine the best female video and best male video categories into artist of the year.  Last year’s final male and female winners were Calvin Harris and Beyoncé, respectively.

Sheeran also performed at the VMAs on Sunday night. Going into the ceremony, Sheeran had one VMA to his name: the Moon Person for best male video in 2014.

Ahead of the release of his latest album, Divide, Sheeran took a lengthy hiatus from the spotlight, shutting off his social accounts and tossing his cell phone at the end of 2015.

“I came back even more driven than the last album, [which] I pretty much went straight into from my first without any break,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “And I also think it was good for my fans. They needed a break from me and I think going away made them even more excited when I did finally come back with new music.”