Indian Police Shut Down Ed Sheeran’s Street Performance

Ed Sheeran might be in love with the shape of you, but police in the Indian city of Bengaluru weren’t in love with the sound of him, shutting down a recent street performance from the musician.

Sheeran, who has been in the midst of a run of dates in India since Jan. 30, found himself in Bengaluru over the weekend, where he was performing two shows at the city’s NICE Grounds. On Sunday (Feb. 9), however, a seemingly-impromptu street performance from the English chart-topper was shut down by local law enforcement, with The Times of India reporting it was due to a lack of requisite permissions.

In footage of the incident shared to social media, police can be seen interrupting Sheeran’s performance of “Shape of You” by unplugging his instruments. “We have permission to be here, but this policeman is shutting it down,” Sheeran can be heard telling the crowd. “See you later!”

Responding to the incident, the Church Street and Rest House Association’s president Sanjay Kumar explained that local police were within their right to intervene as they did. “Even abroad, performances require permission,” Kumar explained. “Sheeran’s team could have approached us, and we would have arranged a private space in a restaurant or an open venue for Bengaluru to enjoy.”

Despite Sheeran’s claim in videos of the performances, police from Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park denied that permission had been given. “No one can perform on the footpaths or roads as it causes inconvenience to others,” they explained. “Our team asked them to stop, and when they didn’t comply, the officers at the spot unplugged the mic connection.”

Sheeran has since responded to the shuttered performance, taking to his Instagram Stories to again assert that permission had been arranged. “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,” he wrote. “All good though. See ya at the show tonight x.”

Indeed, Sheeran went ahead with his second performance of the weekend in Bengaluru that same night, with his remaining performances in India scheduled for Feb. 12 in Shillong, and Delhi on Feb. 15. He’ll head to China for six dates later in the month.

In December, Sheeran revealed to Variety that he had finished his forthcoming record, shot two music videos, and was planning to complete two more in 2025 during his travels to India, China and the Middle East. It’s unclear, however, if his axed performance was being filmed for inclusion in a potential video.

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