Police have shut down Ed Sheeran's planned street gig in India.
The pop star is in the country for his 'Mathematics Tour' and he organised two free pop-up gigs on the streets of Bengaluru on Saturday (08.02.25) and Sunday (09.02.25), but the second show was brought to an early end by a police officer who unplugged his microphone leaving the star struggling to continue before admitting defeat and ending the show early.
Sheeran is adamant he had permission for the gigs and in a video posted online, he was seen telling the crowd: "Everyone, we had permission to do this, but this policeman is shutting it down."
He went on to explain what happened on Instagram, writing: "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.
"All good though. See ya at the show tonight x."
According to Liveindia.tv, Bengaluru police official Shekar T Tekkannanavar said: "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."
Sheeran performed his 'Mathematics Tour' show at the NICE Grounds in Bengaluru on Sunday night.
During the show, Sheeran discussed how his song 'The A Team' eventually became a hit after previously failing to impress punters at an open mic night.
He told the audience: "You would go in with four of your best songs and you would try and get people's attention ...
"When I wrote this song, I thought this song would change everything for me. I was really excited about it, and I went into the open mic night that night and played it thinking that there'd be rapturous applause and a record deal and that would be it. But no one cared.
"I still however liked the song, and so the next day I played it again, thinking the same thing - that someone would discover me, but still, no one cared.
"I did this again, and again, and again, and people just didn't care. But then one day, one person cared, and then the next day two people cared, and then three people, and then ten people, and then twenty people.
"This song slowly became a very minor hit in the United Kingdom. I then signed a record deal and it became a major hit within the United Kingdom, and then finally, I got to take this song all the way around the world ...
" The mad thing is, I can still remember playing this song to absolutely nobody - empty room. If I close my eyes, I can picture that empty room, and now I open my eyes, and I see 26,000 people in Bengaluru tonight."
The tour has already included stops in Indian cities Pune Hyderabad and Chennai and he's also due to play in Shillong and in Delhi.
