NEW DELHI – British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran surprised fans in the south Indian city of Bengaluru on Sunday, giving an improvised performance on the city’s church streets. The international superstar wouldn’t have expected his bustkey king to be shortened by local police.
Sheeran, who is currently on a tour of India with performances in multiple cities, said it would be stopped in the middle of Bengaluru Street, set by police and did not have the necessary permissions to perform in public spaces.
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The video posted on social media quickly became word-of-mouth by a police officer who had pulled out Sheeran’s microphone.
The local TV channel won the hit “Shape of You” and aired a video of the police officer walking to Sheeran, overtaking the microphone.
Police said the singer was not given permission to perform on the spot. This is necessary to prevent crowding in busy areas of India’s high-tech hubs.
“A member of the event organizers came to meet me and asked for permission to perform a streetside performance on Church Street. I refused because Church Street was so busy, so that’s what he said. That’s why they asked me to leave space,” said police, according to India’s National ANI News Agency, of Bengaluru police.
Sheeran claimed in a social media post that he was later given permission to steal trade on the spot.
“By the way, we had permission from Busk, so it was previously planned that we were playing that exact location, not just us who appeared randomly. There was none,” Sheeran said.
“It’s all good,” the singer added. “See you at tonight’s show.”
Sheeran, accompanied by Indian singer Silpalau, performed in front of thousands of people at a concert scheduled for the outdoor venue late Sunday night.
Sheeran worked with popular Indian singer Diljit Dosanji for a show last year in Birmingham, England.
He is currently in India on a 15-day tour. This is his second tour of the vast country in two years. Before he stopped in Bengaluru, he was already playing for Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai, heading next to Shillong and New Delhi.
