New Delhi — British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran took fans by surprise in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru on Sunday with an impromptu performance on the city’s Church Street. The international superstar likely never anticipated his busking to be cut short by local police, who literally pulled the plug on this microphone.
Sheeran, currently on a tour of India with performances in multiple cities, was stopped in the middle of his Bengaluru street set by police, who told him he lacked the necessary permission to perform in the public space.
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A video posted on social media, showing a police officer unplugging Sheeran’s microphone, quickly went viral.
Local TV channels also aired video of a policeman walking up to Sheeran, as he belts out his hit “Shape of You,” and unplugging the mic.
The police said the singer was not given permission to perform at the spot, which is required to prevent congestion in the busy area of India’s tech hub.
“A member among the event organizers came to meet me to seek permission for the streetside performance at Church Street. I refused because Church Street gets very crowded. That is the reason he was asked to vacate the place,” Shekar T Tekkannanavar, Deputy Commissioner of the Bengaluru Police, said according to India’s national ANI news agency.
Sheeran, in a social media post, later insisted he had been given permission to ply his trade at the spot.
“We had permission to busk, by the way. Hence, us playing in that exact spot was planned out before. It wasn’t just us randomly turning up,” Sheeran said, according to the AFP news agency.
“All good though,” the singer added. “See you at the show tonight.”
Sheeran performed in front of thousands of people at his scheduled concert at an open-air venue later Sunday night, accompanied by Indian singer Shilpa Rao.
Sheeran collaborated with popular Indian singer Diljit Dosanjh for a show in Birmingham, England, last year.
He’s in India now for a 15-day tour, his second tour of the vast nation in two years. Before his stop in Bengaluru, he had already played in Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai, and he’s heading next to Shillong and New Delhi.
