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Ed Sheeran says Bengaluru busking was pre-planned after police stop event
The English musician was about a minute into his hit song ‘Shape of You’ on Church Street on Feb.9 when police intervened, cutting off his microphone.
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Ed Sheeran / Wikipedia
English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has clarified that he had prior "permission to busk" in Bengaluru after the city’s police reportedly stopped him from performing on a sidewalk on Feb.9. The singer asserted that his impromptu gig was planned in advance and that he did not "randomly" turn up at the location.
"We had permission to busk btw, hence us playing in that exact spot, was planned out before, it wasn't just us randomly turning up," Sheeran stated on Instagram. However, he assured fans that there were no hard feelings, adding, "All good though, see ya at the show tonight."
Sheeran was about a minute into his hit song ‘Shape of You’ on Church Street when police intervened, cutting off his microphone. A 1.5-minute video of the incident circulating on social media shows the singer performing as onlookers enthusiastically joined in, only for the music to be abruptly halted.
#BREAKING: Ed Sheeran gets unplugged by Bengaluru cops as he was performing on Church Street on Sunday morning. The cops, unaware of who he was, said prior permission was not taken to perform. pic.twitter.com/k7gpdGj9tu
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) February 9, 2025
DCP Central Bengaluru, Shekar T. Tekkannanavar, later explained why authorities stopped the performance. According to NDTV, he stated that Chetan, a member of Sheeran's organizing team, had sought permission, but it was denied due to Church Street being a high-traffic area. He cited a high court order that had already led to several evacuations in the area, adding that since no official approval was granted, Sheeran was asked to leave.
Despite the setback, Sheeran continued his much-anticipated Bengaluru concerts as scheduled. He performed earlier on Feb.8 and took the stage again on Feb.9 at NICE Grounds. Following overwhelming demand for tickets, an additional concert date was announced, making Bengaluru the only city in India to host back-to-back shows on his record-breaking Mathematics Tour.
Reflecting on his deepening connection with India, Sheeran previously said, "Every time I come back to India, it feels more and more exciting. The metric that you would have measured success by back in 2014, I would have no idea that people liked my music here. It wasn't until coming here in 2015 that I realized for the first time that people really like my music here. Whereas now, it's clear that India is my biggest market."
The Mathematics Tour—named after Sheeran’s chart-topping albums Plus, Multiply, Divide, Equals, and Subtract—marks his return to India after previous performances in 2015 and 2017.
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