February 10, 2025: Ed Sheeran has broken his silence hours after his street performance in Bengaluru was abruptly halted by the police. The British singer, who is currently on his India tour, took to Instagram to clarify that his brief act at Church Street was pre-approved.
He wrote in an Instagram story, “We had permission to busk, by the way. Hence, us playing in that exact spot was planned out beforehand. It wasn’t just us randomly turning up. All good though. See you at the show tonight x.”
The incident took place on Sunday when Sheeran began performing his hit song “Shape of You” on Church Street. The performance, however, was cut short within a minute when the Bengaluru police intervened and disconnected his equipment. In a viral video, the singer was seen trying to continue his performance but had to stop when police officers arrived at the scene.
DCP Central Bengaluru, Shekar T. Tekkannanavar, explained the reasoning behind halting the performance. He stated, “Chetan, a member of the organizing team, came to me seeking permission for the concert on Church Street. I clearly rejected it, saying that Church Street becomes too congested. As per the high court order, many evacuations have been done from the area, so we did not permit Ed Sheeran to perform. That is why he was asked to vacate the place.”
Despite the disruption, Sheeran’s team maintained that it was a planned, brief street performance, not a random event. The singer had already performed in Hyderabad and Chennai as part of his ongoing India tour, with the latter concert seeing a special collaboration with the legendary composer AR Rahman. The two performed a rendition of “Urvashi” on stage, much to the delight of fans.
Ahead of the performance in Chennai, Sheeran also met AR Rahman and his son A.R. Ameen. Rahman shared photos of their meeting on Instagram, with Sheeran capturing pictures and enjoying time at Rahman’s music console. Rahman captioned the post with, “Photos by Ed Sheeran.”
Sheeran is slated to perform next in Shillong and Delhi NCR, continuing his tour across India. Despite the controversy in Bengaluru, the singer remained positive, and fans are eagerly awaiting his upcoming performances.