BENGALURU: A street performance by Ed Sheeran in India’s tech capital of Bengaluru was stopped abruptly by police on Sunday, outraging fans and prompting the British singer to issue a clarification.

Sheeran, dressed in a white t-shirt and shorts was seen singing and playing his guitar on a pavement in the centre of Bengaluru ahead of his concert on Sunday night. Local channels showed a policeman walking up to Sheeran as he was singing the hit single “Shape of You” and unplugging the microphone, as onlookers jeered. Sheeran left soon after.

Police said event organisers had refused permission for the street performance, which was on one of the city’s busiest streets. “I refused to give permission because Church Street gets very crowded. That is the reason he was asked to vacate the place,” Bengaluru police official Shekar T Tekkannanavar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Sheeran, who began his career as a busker in the UK, said later on his Instagram account that he did have permission to perform. “It wasn’t just us randomly turning up. All good though,” he wrote.

Sheeran is in India for a series of concerts, and performed in front of thousands of people at an open ground in the city later that night, accompanied by Indian singer Shilpa Rao.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2025