Ed Sheeran stopped by police during India busking session
British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was halted from performing on a street in Bengaluru, India after apparently being denied permission to do so.
On February 9th, 2025, videos emerged across social media of the four-time Grammy winning pop artist attempting to sing on a seemingly miscellaneous pavement on Church Street — even amid police intervention.
The ‘Thinking Out Loud’ singer can be heard in one video telling the crowd: “We were going to play more than one song, but we’re only allowed to play only one song, so hopefully that’s enough.”
But police soon pulled the plug on the street performance — led by Brit-abroad Sheeran, who recently launched a foundation for music education in the UK — and for good reason, they claim.
Despite fans’ disappointment, officials told Indian publication The South First: “He has not [been given] permission. One person from the organising team approached us, but we rejected it. We don’t give permission — it would disturb the public. They came anyway, so we stopped them.” It was reported by Times of India that police officers at the scene were “unaware of his identity” and “requested him to leave”.
While it remains unclear whether or not the performance was indeed spontaneous and unapproved, attendees were able to hear his 2017 hit ‘Shape Of You’.
India-based fans need not be too disappointed, however, since Sheeran is currently in the country for the Asian leg of his Mathematics Tour, and will perform at Bengaluru’s NICE Grounds open arena on February 9th, 2025. Later, Sheeran will play the JN Stadium in Shillong on February 12th, 2025, and the Leisure Valley Ground in Delhi NCR on February 15th, 2025, before moving onto China.
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